Before I start my review, can we all just take a moment to take in and appreciate this B-E-Autiful cover?!

Thank you!

After finishing Tiger’s Curse, and falling in love with the story, its characters and the culture incorporated within each of the pages, I was more than excited to get my hands on the second book, and finally start reading it. With sky high expectations for this second segment, I couldn’t wait to finally continue the journey with the two tigers, the teenage girl, and sweet Mr.Kadam. (And I couldn’t stop myself from drooling over Kelsey and Ren’s relationship… again.)

Instead of trying to summarize the story, like I usually do, I’m just going to insert the synopsis right here. So that way I won’t be giving too much from this book or the first one.

 “Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest–this time with Ren’s dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger’s Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER’S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.”

Tiger’s Quest doesn’t introduce very many new characters. The only four people we (the readers) are introduced to, are the three guys Kelsey starts to date when she arrives back in Oregon, and the one friend she makes while enrolled in a Martial Arts class. This didn’t really bother me that much, because I didn’t read Tiger’s Quest to meet new people, I’m reading for the characters I fell in love with in the first book; two brothers, Kelsey and Mr.Kadam.

While Tiger’s Curse revolved more of Ren and Kelsey, Tiger’s Quest is much more about Kishan and Kelsey… due to Ren not being there, for reasons I can’t say.. While I loved Ren and the way he treated Kelsey, I also liked seeing this sweet and loving side of Kishan.

If you’ve gotten the chance to read Tiger’s Curse you know exactly how heart wrenching the ending was, and I can’t promise you that the ending of the second book is much happier. But I can easily say that the last fifty or so pages, was my favorite part. The ending was nothing I could have ever imagined, it wasn’t explosive or world ending, but it caused my heart to drop, and my eyes to water… and in a sad way, I loved it …

Overall the characters gave me everything I was hoping for and more. The team is another step closer to ending the curse, but things are also falling apart… I continued to learn more about the Indian culture, I continued to swoon over Ren and Kelsey, and now even Kishan and I continued to follow their journey to end the curse.

I loved Houck’s writing style, and gulped down the book within two or three days! But if I had to pick one thing that bothered me, it would have to be towards the beginning of the book, when Kelsey starts to date three different guys… I thought she was trying to take it slow, especially after such a heartbreak.

But I loved the story and I plan to continue and finish the series!

Seven years ago Robert lost his parents in a fire that was caused by a freak storm. He also lost the entire winter that went with that storm. At seventeen, a mysterious phone call mentioning the blood moon and the name Luthien liberates something in his fractured memory bringing events of that forgotten winter back. Soon he is searching for Luthien, the girl he once loved. And across the city graffito begins to show up, warning of the coming blood moon.

As he tries to unlock the secrets of his past, Robert finds unlikely allies in an artist, an entrepreneur and a homeless girl. In a dual world, the enemy is gathering its forces as well, and Robert will need all of his friends to survive the coming battle.

There’s a lot of charm in A Wicked Kind of Dark. It is full of lush intertextuality, giving younger readers a myriad of other books to add to their reading lists (it’s also good to read a book about a character who is a reader and actually knows about books). In atmosphere, I’m reminded of a lot of other books. Enid Blyton comes to mind as the children are thrown into worlds full of adventurous possibility. The vividly realized description is evocative of Tolkien. Not that A Wicked Kind of Dark is derivative; it just nods to a lot of the classics that I grew up with, making me kind of nostalgic.

Despite the novel’s old-school atmosphere, A Wicked Kind of Dark explores some gritty and very modern settings. A doorway to the dual world exists in the London Underground and Robert’s allies, having previously been homeless, run a soup kitchen. Merging the fantastic with the mundane does more than create gripping urban fantasy here. It puts forth the homeless and addicted as heroes in their own right, something that is not done frequently enough.

One thing that made me sad was that, while familial love was portrayed as a bond that was near impossible to break, it is still trumped by romantic love. This is my gripe with pretty much every book, ever, but here it was more poignant because there were some amazing family members around Robert and Luthien. Robert’s brother, Gabriel, and Luthien’s mother, Lady Buchanan, are two of the strongest and most faceted characters in the novel, and I would have loved to have had more page time with them.

Young fantasy readers will love this imaginative new series. Its exploration of modern teenage issues like depression and isolation works well within its classical literature framework, making it a lyrical and significant read.

 A Wicked Kind of Dark – Jonathan K. Benton

 Odyssey Books (September 3, 2013)

ISBN: 9781922200068

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom…

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Hardcover, 324 pages  Published May 22nd 2012 by Feiwel & Friends  ISBN  1250003326 (ISBN13: 9781250003324)

Of Poseidon is a mermaid story that takes place on both land and sea with a basis of mythology and ties to the Triton and Poseidon legends.

When Galen and Emma meet, he is intrigued by her, eventually taking her into the group to train her. All the while he is investigating her bloodline and how it is that she exists and not know what she is.

As Emma and Galen spend more time together, their relationship grows. Emma is the feistiest main character I have come across in a long time. She has no intention of taking orders from anybody and is quick to argue anything and everything she has an opinion about. I was amazed at how calm Galen was in her presence and even more so that he falls for her.  But he is definitely up to the challenge.

Emma’s determined to push herself further underwater than Galen is comfortable with and she gets herself into some  sticky situations. Most of the time Galen takes her actions in his stride, but having to also maintain leadership and show control, takes its toll. As he begins to fall for her and anticipates her outbursts, he acts more on his own emotions as well, letting down his guard.

Of Poseidon ties the Syrena with the Greek myths and legends of Poseidon. A young girl who’s reality has just changed forever and a young Syrenian prince who has passed his marriage age and is finding love for the first time. A love that he will have to fight for. 

“Welcome to Scion. No Safer Place.”

Ahhhh, sure! A completely believable slogan by a completely trustworthy governing body. Just as long as you fit into their nice neat little boxes and obey, obey, obey.

 As you would expect, we follow the young woman who commits treason by simply breathing. In 2059 London it is illegal to have any sort of supernatural ability, so for nineteen year old Paige Mahoney, being able to dreamwalk (her spirit can possess other people’s bodies) and walking the line between legality and the seedy underbelly of the organised criminal element, is ‘normal’.

It’s not until she is captured and shipped off to Oxford, a long forgotten and practically mythical place, that she finds herself under the tutelage of a race of otherworldly creatures. Will she open herself up to learning to hone her skills for the sake of this alien race? Or will she make a break for it and head back to London?

This book doesn’t really have a specifically defined genre, but it is most definitely speculative fiction. There is a little dystopia, a little Victorian fashion, a smidge of romance and a hell of a lot of paranormal butt-kicking, not to mention science fiction.

The pacing is varied enough that you would have to be extremely focussed to finish in a single sitting. That being said, I did find my mind wandering back to the storyline when I was at work, so there is certainly enough hook to bring you back after being forced to put the book down.

Paige is a dedicated and loyal character, and watching her struggle with her conscience was heart wrenching. I’m wondering how she will evolve over the seven-part series.

Though there are still questions to be answered, you are left feeling satisfied and hopeful for the next instalment.

 There are movie rights for The Bone Season being optioned and I think this dark, futuristic, struggle for survival would lend itself wonderfully to the big screen. Here’s hoping we’ll see Paige on the silver screen sooner rather than later.

http://samantha-shannon.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.boneseasonbooks.com/

Paperback, 466 pages

Expected Publication: August 20^th 2013 by Bloomsbury

ISBN13 9781408836439

The cover of Black City is mind blowing! It’s artistic and unique and I’ve never seen anything like it before. What do you think?

Black City is a broken down and damaged society and in shambles due to warfare.  Both Humans and Darklings (vampires) live in this society. But while the Humans reside inside of the city, Darklings are forced to live in the ghettos outside of the city limits. Black City is run a man named Purian Rose who is intimidating, scary, and starting wars to get rid of Darklings. Though most citizens or Darklings have never even seen the man, fear strikes them when they hear his name.

The story follows two very opposite teenagers. Natalie, the daughter of an Emissary of Black City and Ash who is a halfling (half human, half darkling), but is allowed to live inside the city because his father is human. While Natalie is used to living a pampered life, and almost never finding herself in any trouble, no matter how rebellious she can get, Ash is dealing haze (a drug found only in darkling fangs) just to earn extra money.

*I know how this sounds, rich and spoiled girl falls in love with poor bad boy. But Elizabeth Richards makes it much more than that.*

Being as rebellious as she is, Natalie is surprised when her mother enrols her into a working class school. There she recognizes the same guy she saw a couple of nights ago, dealing haze. The two couldn’t be more different, and because of that they bump heads and completely disagree. But soon, both start to have feelings for one another.

A human/darkling couple would never be accepted and is looked down on in the society that Purian Rose has established. So the two try their hardest to stay away from one another. But really, when does that ever work? Darklings are exactly what Purian Rose is trying to get rid of… yes, even Ash.

Before I say anything, I do have to admit that I went into reading Black City with a bad taste in my mouth. I was pulled in by the cover, but I became hesitant when I realized that was another book about vampires. I think we can all agree that the vampire thing is overkill. But Black City doesn’t focus on the entire “vampire” idea. That information is more in the background.

And one more thing, before I completely drool all over my keyboard and fan girl over this story, I want to get the negative out off of my chest first. The one and only thing that truly bothered me was the instant love between Ash and Natalie.

I really enjoy seeing two people who are so different deal with one another, and overcome their differences. But only after a couple of chapters, the two couldn’t stop thinking about each other, nor stay away from one another. I like seeing a little bit of conflict between Ash and Natalie. Then I wanted to see them be forced to work together, to solve whatever it is they need each other for, and then they fall in love… I just feel that the beginning of their relationship was a bit forced.

I think we’ve all seen movies about the rich girl who falls in love with the poor boy, and she is willing to do and give up anything and everything just to be with him. But Black City is so much more than that. Characters in Black City seemed to be real, and have substance behind them.

Ash is battling within himself, unsure of where he belongs, or who he belongs to. Natalie on the other hand is having mommy issues. She is also dealing with an obsessive ex-boyfriend, who is also her bodyguard. So it seems that she can never get away from him.

Purian Rose is the “cult” leader that the community never really sees, but still brings fear to many. Though he may seem to be trying to do the right thing, he isn’t.

The ending, you may ask? Well I can’t say anything about it, because I don’t want to give anything away! I promise it’s for the best!

The writing style was dark, scary and sexy. There was no room between action scenes and things moved quickly! If you haven’t read this one, or the second book, Phoenix, you should get on that!