The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong 

Series: Darkest Powers
Publisher: Atom (January 1st 2011)
Pages: 392
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Source: Bought myself (amazon)
My Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary: Chloe Saunders has been moving around her whole life ever since her mother's death, but finally she is in the drama school she so loves with new friends and is starting to feel more stable. Unfortunately when Chloe starts seeing ghosts again things start to get crazy again and she is shipped off to Lyle house a group home for kids with problems. While struggling to come to terms with her newly diagnosed mental illness Chloe also has to deal with the other kids in the home, not all of them welcoming. Liz, Rae and Simon may be welcoming enough, but Tori seems to have taken a disliking to Chloe and Derek is far from warm. However she has a lot more in common with the other kids at the home than she realises, and she soon has to put her trust in some of them.

The Summoning is the first book in the Darkest Powers series and what a great start. I got into this book straight away and did not want to stop. Chloe was a well formed, relatable character who I couldn't help but like and feel for as things went very wrong for her. You quickly realise things in the group home are not quite as they seem on the surface and it keeps you guessing the whole way through, I had a pretty good idea of where I felt Kelley was taking this but she defiantly had me second guessing myself.

Full of twists and turns and a lot of moments which had me holding my breath I really enjoyed this book. Each character was given depth, backstory and something that just meant I couldn't dislike any of them by the end of the series although at first I did think Tori needed shutting up.

Kelley Armstrong never disappoints me with her books and this was another brilliant book which will leave you wanting more.

Here goes, my honest opinion on Twilight

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer 

Series: Twilight 

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (6th September 2006)

Pages: 434

Genre: Fantasy 

Source: Bought myself (WHSmiths)

My Rating: 2 out of 5

Isabelle Swan has just moved to Forks, a small town in washington. After starting a new school she meets the quiet and mysterious Edward Cullen who quickly turns her world upside down as he reveals to her a secret that could endanger both there lives. He's a vampire but no ordinary vampire.

Alright so lets get started. When I decided to start sharing my opinions online in this way I had quite a list in my head of books I wanted to talk about and I was on the fence as to weather I really wanted to review Twilight, what with my rather negative opinion on it and so much of that around. But here it is, my honest opinion. 

I actually managed to read this book before the massive hype and movie seemed to drag it threw the gutter prompting people to hate it basted on the fact it was so popular, and as someone with a life long love of all things vampire and otherworldly I was instantly drawn to it with the attractive cover and vampire themes. However my excitement did not last long, I should have been excited by the new twist on the classic vampire but I just was not buying it, vegetarian vampires? No, every part of me knew this was wrong! I just wanted blood lust and gore and maybe that was wrong, but hey, thats just my preference. I really didn't want nice restrained vampire who sparkled like a fairy instead of burning in the sunlight.

I can respect what Stephenie was trying to do with this book, making it something different and set it apart from that vampire norm which I love so much. However I just couldn't get down with her writing style, i'm sure a lot of time and thought went into this but really, there were some points where I was having to re arrange the sentence structure in my head and asking myself why the progression of the whole thing was just so...wrong. It didn't have that nice flow to it that keeps you going and wanting more, and its that which lead to me eventually abandoning the book all together unable to push forward anymore, desperate for some extra ingredient to grab my interest or the tempo to suddenly speed up and make things easier.

Unfortunately that extra bit of something special never came and I was left feeling very underwhelmed by the first half or so of the book I managed to read. Do I think this book could have been good if it was written better? Probably for some people yes, but for me I think it was always going to be fighting a losing battle, to set in my ways wanting the strong dark vampire filled with lust and hunger tempting the innocent human girl. This for me didn't provide that and that lack of interest on my part mixed with the strangely structured sentences means I struggled to give this book two stars. All I will say is that for a lot of younger readers I can see how this might appeal and thats fine, I just feel a little sad that there introduction into the beautiful world of vampires and other night dwelling creatures is something a little to sparkly. 

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Series: Morganville Vampires

Publisher: Allison & Busby; Reprint edition (26 May 2008)

Page:348

Genre: Fantasy 

Source: Bought myself (waterstones)

My Rating: 4 out of 5 

At 16, gifted student Claire Danvers has just started college in a small town. Unfortunately the other students are not impressed at the college letting in children to spoil there fun. After quickly having enough of the dorms and the nasty girls who inhabit them Claire decides that an off campus option is probably better, she finds a house that seems perfect. Although her new house mates, Eve, Michael and Shane are a little concerned by her age they agree to let her stay and keep her out of harms way. However she soon finds out that the girls at the college are not the only things to be feared, not when the town was being run by vampires.

I thought I would revisit this book today and write a little review for it after reading it and very much enjoying it a couple of years ago. Narrated by the main character Clair as she is thrown into the deep end of college life at just 16 before realising there is a lot more to be scared of in the small town of Morganville, she manages to escape one life threatening situation only to realise she may have bigger problems. 

I have slightly mixed feelings about the start of this book, I fully understand its fantasy and don't get me wrong Rachel Caine is a very talented writer and the idea of a book like this means things are not going to be all together realistic most the time. However when Clair first starts college she is harassed by some of the other girls in her dorm, where as I know name calling is a part of most peoples educational experience, and physical violence? well yeah sure that can happen to, but when she is pushed down the stairs and left unconscious I was left screaming at the book a little wondering what the hell was going on and why you wouldn't just tell someone. 

My little issue with the early events aside I did very quickly get over it and settle into the rest of the book nicely, the characters were easy to relate to and grew on me fast as I was sucked into there world. I wont give away anything because thats not how I do things, but during this book I had the rare pleasure of having no idea where Rachel was going with the story and being amazed by her inventive plot twists and interesting characters. 

Despite a slightly rocky start I really enjoyed this book and wasted no time continuing onto down the series, an ongoing adventure I will be sure to keep you up to date on now life has left me with more time to polish off a few series college left me no time to finish. In conclusion I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone looking for vampires with a few added extras.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong 

Series: Women of the otherworld (No.1)

Publisher: Orbit (6 May 2010)

Pages: 464

Genre: Horror/Fantasy

Source: Bought myself (Waterstones)

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Bitten features Elena Michaels, a very head strong women who outwardly appears to have a normal life. At least if you ignore the fact she has to change into a wolf once a month. After been bitten by her then boyfriend Clay years back Elena's life takes a drastic change much like her body, and not for the better. Despite leaving to start a fresh away from Clay and the other wolves in his pack, Elena finds herself pulled back into there world and into a war to survive which will test her convictions. 

What better way to start things off than with my favourite book by an amazing author. Bitten had me from the first page and was not going to let me go, brilliantly written and instantly addictive I really could not put this book down, taking very little time to finish it off. Elena is a likeable and relatable character who you really feel for as you learn more about her past, and I soon developed a liking for Clay as well. The relationship between the two is revealed slowly as the book progresses and the reasons behind Elena's coldness towards him becomes clear, but there is a real depth to there backstory and its evident from early on there there are residual feelings there. Although the relationship between them does play a big part throughout the story, this is far from being just romance. Instead it is a perfect mix of blood, sex and violence which keeps you guessing all the way through. 

I should note quickly that although this book is one of thirteen in the 'Women of the Otherworld' series Elena is not the focus of all of them which was a little bit of a let down for me as I enjoyed her storyline so much, but she is featured in the second book and then appears again later down the line before narrating again in broken and frostbitten. However during Stolen, the second book Elena narrates, you do start to meat the other characters who will later feature in the other books.

As a fan of werewolves anyway this was an obvious choice when I picked it up and read the summary. But these are not your ordinary werewolves, shifting fully into wolf form rather than ending up some kind of mutated mix, this was to a real plus and something a bit different which offered a nice twist on the more classic idea of a werewolf. 

This is not a light read for people who are after a quick read before bed, but I think most people would struggle not to get drawn into Elena's world. Overall this book is very much worth a read, it has a bit of everything and kept my attention beautifully.