Wow! How does one review the last book in a series a) without giving away HUGE spoilers to the 4 books previous in the series, and b) without giving away all the important bits in this book?

I was given a copy of the trade paperback to read, but as I’ve been plagued by migraines of late, I enlisted the lovely efforts of both Bolinda Audio and Brisbane City Council Libraries to keep up with, not only the in-between books, Entice, Emblaze, and Endless, but also this final instalment in the Violet Eden Chapters, Empower.  Online borrowing is da bomb.

The journey has been far from easy for Violet. I believe Empower is most certainly the best and most satisfying book of the lot. You’ll be swept up in the maelstrom of insanity, but the resolutions are exactly how they should be. The series really should be read in the correct order to gain maximum inpact.

Rebecca Macauly’s voice has brought the series to life for me, and on more than one occasion I caught myself tearing up or gasping in horror of what Jessica has Violet enduring.  For me, this is what Violet sounds like, and I genuinely hope you’ll give the audio books a chance.

Purchase the Violet Eden Chapters from Bolinda Audio

If you are a member of the Brisbane City Council Libraries you can borrow the audio books online, through the BCC online catalogue, just follow the links and log in to borrow anywhere up to 10 books for 14 days.

 http://www.jessicashirvington.com/

 Paperback, 464 pages

Published, November 12th 2013

ISBN 0734415109 (ISBN13: 9780734415103)

Fairytale re-tellings can either be completely brilliant or total poop. Marissa Meyer is a master at taking things to the limit of unconventionality and making it obscenely awesome.

Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles and it took me ages to get my hands on a copy. So either it was really popular, or the book sellers here do not have any clue as to the calibre of story Meyer creates.

Little Red Riding Hood has never made me this excited. Red teams up with Wolf to save Grandma, and along the way her tale tangles with Cinder’s. Oh, what a twisted web they weave, but oh, how the web will grip you.

This is fast paced; full of action and adventure, you’ll be looking for book three, Cress, the moment you’ve read the last word on the final page. I promise.

http://www.marissameyer.com/

Paperback, 452 pages

Published February 7th 2013 by Peguin Books (first published February 5th 2013)

ISBN 0141340231 (ISBN13: 9780141340234)

The world has ended with the coming of the Rapture and those who did not make it to Heaven wander through Earth’s wasteland, trying to survive the demon-infested nights. Sam, a half-human, half-demon, has recovered from the wounds the Archangel Michael inflicted on him but not from the loss of Aimi, the angel that he loves.

He spends his time protecting the innocents left on earth, while trying not to reveal what he is to them. It can’t last, however. The final battle looms ever closer and Yeth, Sam’s hellhound, has been missing too long. If Sam has a chance of finding his mother or joining the battle of the Apocalypse, he will need Yeth by his side.

The Rapture trilogy holds together really well. The world is built on biblical mythology and stays faithful to it throughout all three books, while weaving in its own unique legend. The characters grow, but remain true to their origins. The promise of the first book is realised in the last. Sam’s part in the war is creative in a way that I wasn’t expecting; his mother is brought into the novel finally and more of the ideas of Heaven and Hell are explored.

Like Rapture and Tribulation, the first two books in this trilogy, Apocalypse starts with a fast pace that barely lets up until the big finale. Fans of Simpson’s amazing actions sequences won’t be disappointed by the last instalment. The battles are bigger, the enemy more powerful, and the humans more desperate than ever.

Though the major scenes in Apocalypse don’t disappoint, there are several places that feel like old ground being covered. Human groups yet again don’t want Sam to play with them, Sam is still trying to toss-up between his human and demon side, and it isn’t fair that Heaven has all these cruel rules. Sometimes when an entire book centres on one character the emotions and thoughts roil in circles, not bringing anything fresh to the table. Apocalypse definitely suffers for this. Having had Sam primarily on his own in Rapture and Tribulation, he really should have had Yeth and Grace around for most of Apocalypse. Admittedly, this opinion is partly selfish. Grace and Yeth were my favourite characters and they were woefully under-utilised in the final and arguably most important novel.

Despite these issues, the big questions that everyone wanted answers to are resolved perfectly and the trilogy is tied up neatly, leaving behind few loose ends. Anyone who loved Sam and felt for his plight in the first two books will savour the last one. Apocalypse is a bitter and sweet end to an imaginative trilogy.

Apocalypse – Phillip W. Simpson

Arete Publishing (February 14, 2013)

ISBN: 9781301931378

For months Em has been locked in a cell with only a mysterious drain and the voice of the boy she loves to focus on. Sometimes that voice is screaming in pain, but mostly it’s saying things that still make her laugh in this bleak, concrete prison. Time, however, is running out for them, unless they can find a way to steal some back.

Marina is used to getting the things that she wants, but not the people. Her parents have long since given up on using her as anything but a communication device in their increasingly acrimonious marriage. It seems as though James, the boy she loves, will always think of her as a little sister while his new friend, Finn, is increasingly encroaching on their time together. All of that was yesterday though. Today Em is on her way and, if her plan works, any hope Marina has with James will be shattered beyond repair.

The premise of All Our Yesterdays is not new; if you could go back and kill someone evil before they did anything evil, would you be able to? It is the kind of question with so many grey areas that it can be explored over and over again and, with an amazing ensemble of characters, Cristin Terrill has brought an exciting, fresh twist to the concept. Rather than the evil being a generic, unspecified individual, he is someone that the two main characters know well in both his pre and post evil stages.

The strongest aspect of this novel is its moral ambiguity. Rather than evil being absolute, it is treated as a spectrum. Good isn’t a cut and dried concept either. Both good and evil are paths that the characters choose, often unwittingly. There’s depth and complexity in this notion that translates surprisingly well to the novel without slowing it down.

The continuity of timelines is clear and well-thought out, making what could easily be a baffling novel into something that flows with ease. Em’s character is not quite so consistent. From the outset her goal is to kill James, making the future world a better place. Though she must know that it may come down to her, she’s woefully unprepared for it, not even keeping up her fitness levels when she has ample opportunity. The fact that she’s torn about killing her former best friend is the core of this novel. Without it, the story would lose not only its suspense but its humanity. That she throws away every chance she has of completing her quest without analysing or changing her behaviour, however, weakens an otherwise compelling character.

All Our Yesterdays is told from both Marina and Em’s perspectives in the present and future. This would usually bother me, but Terrill’s writing is strong enough to draw you in, and her characters are so wonderfully imagined that their voices are very different. Marina is wealthy and self-centred but unsure of everyone around her. Em is sure of Finn but not of her future or his. In their own ways, they’re both desperate, vulnerable, and addictively readable.

All Our Yesterdays is wonderfully written, cleverly plotted, and emotionally wrenching. From the first few chapters I really didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but it really draws you in, snaring you so that putting it down is unbearable. According to Terrill, this is the first book of a duology, so there’ll be one more in the series. Even though I devoured the first book, I don’t know how I feel about a second. The ending to All Our Yesterdays was absolutely perfect: unexpected but exactly what the novel had been building towards all along. It stands so well on its own that, bittersweet and forlorn as the ending may be,  a sequel seems superfluous, but I’ll be reading it anyway.

 All Our Yesterdays – Cristin Terrill

 Bloomsbury (September 3, 2013)

 ISBN: 9781408835197

Annie has finally escaped her prison in Keane’s school, where she’s been locked up and guarded on a single floor for the last few years. She hasn’t seen or spoken to her sister since her dramatic escape and has finally met up with Adam, Cole, and Sarah, who have taken her in.

But after only a few days, Annie is worried about her baby sister. She’s tired of sitting in various motels rooms, feeling useless. She wants to help out somehow, someway, even if it means harming herself to have visions of Fia.

To do something productive, Cole takes Annie to meet another girl named Mae, who has been offered the same opportunity to attend Keane’s school. Annie tries to convince Mae to turn down the offer, but Mae explains that the girls at the school are actually the ones with all the power. She says that she wouldn’t mind being paid to do something she can do in her sleep.

Annie feels helpless. She doesn’t know what to do. She just wants to prevent any more girls from attending the school and wants her sister back.

On the other side of things, Fia has decided to destroy the school from the inside out with the help of James, Keane’s son. James is broken. He is still dealing with the grief from the loss of his mother, and the anger towards his father for destroying the beautiful school his mother established. Fia has decided to put all her trust in James and do anything he asks.

But Fia has never felt so unsure about someone like she does about James. Normally she can immediately sense anyone’s intentions, but when it comes to James her heart takes over. No matter how hard she tries, Fia can’t shake off the feeling that he might be hiding and keeping something from her.

After starving herself and going nights without sleep, Annie finally sees a vision of Fia that will change everything. She knows that if she doesn’t get there in time, she and Fia will never be free, but dead…

With so much love for Mind Games, there wasn’t any option but to pick up Perfect Lies right away! And I did…even though it was three thirty in the morning.

As with all of Kiersten White’s books, the element that I look forward to the most are the characters (if you hadn’t already guessed).

In Mind Games, Annie may be the older sister, but she’s very sheltered. She doesn’t know what Fia is doing or sacrificing for Annie’s protection. In Perfect Lies, her eyes are opened and she finally believes everything that’s going on around her.

As Annie took a few steps forward, Fia took a few back. In the first installment, she had to follow these crazy missions and do anything that was asked of her. But she has this amazing IDGAF attitude that really pulled me towards her. I liked her for it! But in Perfect Lies, that goes away a bit. Fia falls in love with James and her heart quickly takes over. Fia knows she has a weird feeling about him and that he isn’t telling her the whole truth, but she doesn’t want to believe it.

If you’re really into mind-numbing, jaw-dropping endings, then Mind Games and Perfect Lies are the perfect books for you! In the first book, the ending was so far out of this world, I never saw it coming. In the second book, I knew something drastic would happen, especially with Annie and her discovery of everything going on. But again, I would have never expected what happened.

I’m sad that there are only two books in this series (if you can call it that), but Kiersten White did an amazing job tying up loose ends and surprising me. If you haven’t started reading this series yet, you should ASAP!