Nevermore

                          Nevermore by Kelly Creagh


 I wasn't going to touch this book.  I swear.  I really had no intentions of reading it.  But then I went to the library that they gave a makeover to and this book was just sitting there!  Along with a bunch of other books that I have been wanting to read, but not wanting to pay the stupid hardcover (GRRRR!!) price for.  So fine, I caved, I closed my eyes and checked it out along with three other young adult books.

The reason I have been avoiding this book is because I've been noticing a trend.  Young adult books of the paranormal genre seem to just piss me off.  The heroine is always a dolt, (this book is no exception) there is always a stupid love triangle, and of course, more than likely it's the start of a series.

 GAH!  Is there some unwritten rule now that books in the paranormal genre (this includes sci-fi and fantasy books as well) have to be series?  Can't anyone wrap up a story in one book anymore?  Robin Mckinley did it with Sunshine, as did Emily Gee with Thief With No Shadow, and William Goldman with the Princess Bride.  I can't think of anymore but there has to be!



*Some Spoilers Ahead*




Yesterday was a pretty boring day because the Packers didn't play until 7:30 so I had plenty of time to kill. I sat down and started reading this mountain of a book and immediately hated Isobel's voice.  Good god is she a whiney tart. "OMG I HAVE TO PARTNER WITH THE SCUM OF THE EARTH OHHH NO"

Here is a direct quote:  "Ten pages? Ten pages.  That was epic.  That was like...the freaking Gettysburg Address."
 At this point I'm actually surprised that she knows what the Gettysburg Address actually is.

And Varen, he's well, he's different I guess.  Got that whole goth thing going on and the emo hair and wears lots of rings. blah blah blah.  I honestly don't understand his appeal.

As far as characters and their interactions with each other are concerned, I found them all incredibly frustrating.  Isobel lies for no apparent reason and only ends up making things worse.  I still really don't understand why she couldn't just tell her parents that she had to work on a school project.  What does she do instead? Sneaks out of the house.  IDIOT.   I don't understand why she couldn't tell her parents that she *gasp* broke up with her boyfriend.  So what if your dad likes him?  It's your life and you had damn good reasons for breaking up with him.  IDIOT.
The relationship between her and Varen makes no sense.  Varen hardly talks, and when he does it seems he doesn't really care that he is talking to Isobel, she just happens to be there.  I suppose I would have understood their romance more if they had become friends, but to me it seemed as though, when they talked they would only exchange a few sentences at a time and then they would leave.  Sure there was that incident at the ice cream shop, but they didn't talk much did they? no.
How the relationship jumps from hardly talking to being in love is beyond me.

Besides my frustrations with the characters, the overall idea of the book, with Edgar Allen Poe is really interesting.  I admit I have never read anything by Poe except for the Tell Tale Heart and maybe one other thing.  So I learned a lot about Poe through this book that I never knew before.

This fantasy realm that is created though is a little difficult to understand.  I was as confused as Isobel was, and she sure as hell wasn't getting any answers.  I wish we could have had more explanations as to what was going on, we get some, but not much.  And of course, this book ends on a cliff hanger. Lame.

So overall, hated the characters, the fantasy world could use some more explaining, the Poe concept/world was awesome and I loved all the little poems and tidbits about him, aaaaand cliffhanger ending.

I am hoping that in the second and third books the world gets some polishing and clarifying and Isobel gets some common sense.  I suppose overall I liked this book because I do plan on reading the second in the series, however, I am not counting down the days until it is released.

Icebox Where My Heart Use To Be

I'm back! T'was a great vacation but it feels wonderful to be back home to see my all my little baby kitties  :D  I am quite proud of myself that I didn't purchase any books whilst I was away.  There is no possible way I would have been able to fit anything else in my suitcase!

I read some really great news as well!  Jeaniene Frost plans to write a series just for VLAD! Only two books so far but that is good enough for me!  Oh and also push the Night Huntress Novels to 9 books instead of just 7 but ehhhh.....VLAD!!!! ( There is a lot of exclamation points in this post so far...(!!!!!!!!!!)  ) You can read more about it on her website   <---
When I read about this I squealed.  Yes I did, you can ask my husband.

Hmmmmm what else.....  oh yeah, I finished reading Clockwork Angel.  Gosh it seemed so familiar, like something I've read before......what was it???  AH yes I recall now.  It was City of Bones!  Will is practically a shoe-in for Jace.  I get they're relatives, but really?  They couldn't have slightly different personalities?
 What's that?
 No?
You're feeding off your wildly popular Mortal Instrument series and can't be bothered to come up with new character personalties?
 Oooh okay.



GAH!  Ok, what I just said seems pretty mean considering I actually did enjoy the plot for the most part.

OH wait, one more thing before I get to the positives.



















**Spoilers Ahead!!**



Ok so for those who have read this book please, oh please tell me you had the same problem with Tessa at the beginning as I did.  The Dark Sisters have her captive and tell her that if she doesn't do what they say , they will torture her brother.  So Tessa stays to keep her brother alive.  That makes sense, brotherly love and all that jazz.  But then, once Tessa has managed her shifting talent they tell Tessa that she's ready.  When Tessa asks what exactly it is that she is ready for, the Dark Sister reply that she is to be married.  Now Tessa has been with the Dark Sisters like what?  a month now? and had noooo problems being starved and harassed and such.  But mention the word marriage and THAT is what makes her want to escape?!  After all this time?!  Come on now Tessa, you had to have had some other better reason for wanting to escape then just not wanting to get married to a stranger!  FOOL!








**END SPOILERS!!**   You Can Look Now!




Back to the positives!  If I said I didn't like this book, I'd be lying.  I mean, it's not the best book I've ever read by any means.  It was basically a good book of fluff that I enjoyed, and while I'm not eagerly anticipating the next book in the series, I definitely do plan on reading it when it comes out.
Once again Clare's plots are ridiculously predictable but at least in these books (at least so far)  there isn't that creepy weird feeling ( you know what I mean to those who have read the Mortal Instruments series!!!) you get from reading it, so that's a plus HA!


I suppose that's it for now.  I'm off the watch The Princess Bride. I JUST finished the book on the plane ride home and I loved it!  well except for......nevermind, I'll tell you in my next post.

Toodles!

Graaawwwrrrrr!!!

It's been a good weekend!  Husband and I found a couch for the basement, my football teams won, movies were watched, and free books were read.  Myes myes, quite good indeed!

Let's start with Football!!
Packers played the Buffalo Bills and kicked major butt!!
Clay Matthews is my new hero.  Graaawwwrrrrr!!!!!

Pittsburgh played the Tennessee Titans.  
Run Ward RUNNNN!!!

and what tops off a great day of football?  Knowing that Farve and the Vikings are now 0-2 and the all "amazing" Farve threw three interceptions. BAHAHHA!!!  Sorry...I hold grudges.

I mean, take a look at this picture.  The ball doesn't even want to be thrown by him.  It's even got a distress call on it!

Oohh a little grainy. sorry about that....but you get the picture

Put the poor old man out of his misery and and do what his pant leg says and retire him already!

Moving on...Let's talk about the free book I read. It's called The Mating by Nicky Charles.  

From Goodreads:

Elise had no idea when she came home that day that she'd end up mated to a complete stranger. A new Alpha and the need for an alliance between packs have made her a pawn. 

EXCERPT: She lay beside him, staring blankly at the ceiling. The deed was done. They were mated. It didn't matter that she had no love for him nor he for her. Political alliances were more important than feelings, or so she had been told. That fact was cold comfort right now as her heart broke within her. 

                                                         A novel of romantic suspense. Adult content.

You can download this book and its sequel free on Smashwords.  So how was it?  It was pretty good for a free book.  But the heroine was dumb as a box of rocks.  I really wanted to stomp on her foot and then punch her in the stomach and maybe pull some of her hair out (you know, just to make sure she got the picture that she was an idiot.  I think hair pulling really helps).  Her stupidness aside and yeah, also her mate's stupidness aside, I enjoyed watching the two's relationship develop and them growing to trust each other and all that stuff.  However I can't say that this is really a novel of "suspense."  Romance yes, but the "bad guy" is practically thrown in your face.  It's so obvious who it is that's causing all the trouble which is why it's soooo annoying to read about Elises' slow mind plodding along, struggling to understand what is going on.  

That's all I got for now!

Blameless

When I first heard about Soulless by Gail Carriger I wasn't sure if I would like it or not.  I've never read any steampunk type books, although I didn't really think it was steampunk at all.  ANYWAYS I read Soulless, loved it and rushed out to buy Changeless. I liked it as well right up until that damn cliffhanger ending.

  Lucky for me I read these books in July and didn't have to wait all that long for Blameless to come out.  I am currently on about page 300 with only 50ish more pages to go and I'm SO bored.  I find myself skipping over most of the boring descriptions and pretty much anything having to do with Alexia.

I'm bored with the writing.  I know that they have all been written in the same tone but for some reason it's really grating on my nerves this time around.  Maybe it's because so far Conell and Alexia have had zero interaction, or the that the story is told from two different viewpoints?  

I'll let you know if the book redeems itself in the last 50 pages

/Edit/  UGh! It did get better in the last 50 pages and Alexia and Conell FINALLY meet up.  But really, it seems to me the author is trying to be too clever in her descriptions and for me, at least, the fight scenes are boring and have no feeling of danger.  I might read the next book in the series, but I definitely will not be buying it.