September 2010 ( 34)

Raised By Wolves (Raised By Wolves, #1) - Jennifer Lynn Barnes ★★★★

A good start to a series. I hope it gets better. A nice new twist to the werewolf story. I'm wavering between 3.5 and 4 stars so I'll just give it the benefit of the doubt.

Eighth Grade Bites (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, #1) - Heather Brewer ★★

It's between a 1.5 and a 2 for me. I was just bored with it. YA keeps me entertained, but this seemed like it could have been more for pre-teens. If I were 8-10 I might have enjoyed it, but instead I was bored.

Who Wants To Be A Sex Goddess? - Gemma Bruce ★★1/2

Cute little mystery. I liked the characters. Would have liked more plot development, but with the title of the book being what it was... If you expect cheesy and fun, but not amazing writing then you'll have fun with it.

Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, #9) - Rachel Caine ★★★

3.5 I think this was a good end to the series. There was non-stop action and the whole world was falling apart around the characters. It kept things interesting.

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate, #1) - Gail Carriger ★★★★

I really enjoyed the characters and the storyline, despite my expectations to hate this book. I never had any interest in reading it, I've not had good luck with the genre, and people with similar tastes detested it. Luckily, after weeks of whimpering and whining, I picked it up. I loved Lord Maccon and Alexia. There are moments when the characters obsess over completely pointless things and, while that can get annoying at times, it is actually more in character of the time period the story is set in. The whole story feels as if you're in the Victorian Era. A lot of books have a story that feels modern, with a setting in the past, but Carriger manages to combine, scenery, speech, and actions so that you're taken back.
I do see where some would dislike this, and I understand completely, but I'm glad that I finally forced myself to pick it up.

Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices, #1) - Cassandra Clare ★★★★

There's a lot of good scenes in this book, but I can't give it a 5. There's also some issue, but I can't give it a 3 either. It took me a while to get into the book as well. City of Bones drew me in from the beginning, but this one took about 150 pages before I was completely pulled in. Also, I just can't get behind the bad guys. "Robots" hold no interest for me.

Doing It Right - Mary Janice Davidson ★ 1/2

2 short stories. Both had potential to be remotely interesting, but as you can tell from the title, the plot gets lost in exchange for sex. (At least the first short story did.) Both short stories tie together because of the characters. I just read it because it's one of the few MJD stories I haven't read. If the second story had had time to develop I might have liked the characters. They were a little unbelievable, but they were at least funny.

Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2) - Simone Elkeles ★★★★

Wicked Apetite - Janet Evanovich ★★1/2

Beyond cheesy. The monkey did add some entertainment though. One of her worst books.

Beastly - Alex Flinn ★★★

A little campy, but very cute. I think I'll always love Beauty and the Beast stories. I like that the witch plays a larger role in the book and you can see that she's not just a prissy witch randomly casting a spell. She really hopes for him. I can't wait for the movie.

Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery, #1) - Kim Harrison ★★

I was kind of bored with it. I will give book 2 a try though.

Early to Death, Early to Rise (Madison Avery, #2) - Kim Harrison ★★1/2

I liked this one better than the first one. Now that I know the characters it was easier to get interested in the story. It didn't require massive visualization of lines connecting to things from an amulet and all of that stuff that can get confusing if you're not a visual person. The theme was better, but the writing stayed the same. It's an AMAZINGLY fast read. 1-2 hours top. Plus, it's very predictable.

Every Which Way But Dead (Rachel Morgan/The Hallows, #3) - Kim Harrison ★★★★

A great series. Fun, a lot to keep you entertained, and the writing lacks the generally cheese factor that a lot of paranormal books possess.

You Are So Undead To Me (Meghan Berry, #1) - Stacy Jay ★★1/2

It was my first zombie book so I was hoping it'd be good, but it was just lacking so much. The writing wasn't great, and it wasn't entertaining enough to overlook it like some books are.

Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #1) - Stacia Kane ★★1/2

I waver between 2.5 and 3 on this one. There were parts that I loved and parts that I hated. I'll give the series one more book to see if I can come off the fence. It was an interesting concept, but it's hard to get behind a heroine who is drugged out and screwed up as she was. Once I got use to the language rhythm it did get easier to find things that were enjoyable. Terrible saved the book for me. I want to know what happens with him, more so than Chess. Go figure.

The Iron King (iron Fey, #1) - Julie Kegawa ★★★

I enjoyed the story, but there were moments where I felt like the author was reaching. I like the characters, but Ash and her needed some time to actually develop. Maybe this will happen in future books. I'll find out.

Winter's Passage (Iron Fey, #1.5) - Julie Kegawa ★★★

The Iron Daughter (Iron Fey, #2) - Julie Kegawa ★★★

Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter, #0/1) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★★

It will probably only be a 3 upon reflection, but I just loved how the story integrated Greek mythology. I'm a sucker for the old stories.

Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★1/2

Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter, #2) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★1/2

Dance With The Devil (Dark-Hunter, #3) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★★

Brutal descriptions.

Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #4) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★1/2

These books always make me laugh in the beginning and cry sometime in the middle. Not a lot of tears, just one or two. Kenyon knows how to write about pain.

Night Play (Dark-Hunter, #5) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★★

Funny, cute, and romantic. I'm loving this series.

Seize the Night (Dark-Hunter, #6) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★★

Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #7) - Sherrilyn Kenyon ★★★

It was interesting to finally learn more about Ash and to finally have a book from a female dark-hunter's perspective, but it wasn't as good as the last few. It didn't make me want to cry or shock me in any way. It was all rather predictable for me.

Beyond The Highland Mist (Highlander, #1) - Karen Marie Moning ★★★★

Needs some help, but it made me cry in a spot or two and that means it sucked me into the story well enough to forgive most faults.

Marked (Eternal Guardians, #1) - Elisabeth Naughton ★★1/2

There were some good parts in the book, but for some reason I just didn't connect with the story. I liked the characters, but I didn't get excited, sad, or terrified for them like I should have. I'll probably try book 2 eventually to see if that changes. Sometimes the longer you're with a world the easier it is to get emotional.

Dark Flame (The Immortals, #4) - Alyson Noel ★★

I really want to like this series, but I just can't. I'm becoming less and less interested with each book. For some reason I just can't connect to the characters anymore.

Born to Bite (Argeneau, # 13) - Lynsay Sands ★★★

Again, a cute little romance story. This one was the same quality as the others, so no surprises there.

Angels' Pawn (Guild Hunter, #0) - Nalina Singh ★★★

Wicked Game (WVMP Radio, #1) - Jeri Smith-Ready ★★★

OCD vampires. Cute.

Bad to the Bone (WVMP Radio, #2) - Jeri Smith-Ready ★★★

and Falling, Fly - Skyler White ★★1/2

This is an interesting book about a fallen angel/vampire female and a reborn male. Reborn meaning that as he gets older all of the memories from his past lives come back to him. He must relive all of the pain of his past and the loss of the one's he's loved. The vampire is looking for salvation, a way to feel again and break her curse, while the reborn looks to science to try and invent a way to forget his past. The concept works, but there's something in the execution that doesn't work for me.
The vampire has barbed like teeth that have to be sharpened and they drink in peoples memories. They can drink without the person knowing, or feed traditionally, but they must feed off of desire or fear. Otherwise the vampire will be severely injured or killed. It just didn't work for me. Plus, the girls can't have sex.
The book is more intellectual than most vampire books. The middle of the book is a constant debate over reality, knowledge, love, religion, and faith. Hell, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge, and the snake all make appearances. My issue is that sometimes things didn't flow. I understood all of the arguments, but there were times where it felt like something descriptive was missing to bring two actions together. She spent so much time arguing concepts, but when you needed her to be more precise with actions it didn't happen. It was a good attempt, but the work as a whole didn't do it for me.