Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Series: Firebird Trilogy (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: multiverse, parallel universes, science, love

Setting: San Francisco, California, New York City, Paris

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Marguerite Caine

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 426 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

The second book in the Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You features Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.”

My Review:  This is a really awesome sequel. I’ve been waiting for this since I finished the first book and now I’m so happy to have read. Claudia Gray has made another great series, this time sci-fi instead of paranormal. These books have such beautiful covers, and wonderful content to match. I enjoyed every moment of this book. There are no dull moments. It’s like a thriller. The setting moves to different places, different worlds. It’s exciting and fast paced.

Marguerite travels to different dimension, into different versions of herself to collect the pieces of Paul soul that were splintered. She’s been made a “perfect traveler” so she has complete control over herself in the other universes. Conley is forcing her to destroy her parent’s Firebird project work in these other dimension. The Firebird is a device that lets people’s consciousness travel into other version of themselves. They can’t physically travel there; only their minds do. I love seeing how different or similar each universe is. It’s like a surprise every time. There are different circumstances, so people may be different from their other selves in some ways. Sometime she finds herself in California, where she lives currently. Sometimes in England, New York, or Russia. The travel part of this book adds interest.

Somehow Marguerite is connected to Paul in some way in most of the universes. Also Theo is there frequently too. Marguerite discovers that she sometimes is in love with Theo, not always Paul. She loves Paul deeply, though. Theo is a great friend to her. I personally like Theo more because he’s got a great sense of humor and dresses like a hipster, and Paul is kind of quiet. They’re both smart, though. It’s not truly a love triangle.

I recommend it to those who enjoyed: Parallel by Lauren Miller, Tandem by Anna Jarzeb, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, The False Memory Series by Dan Krokos, Unraveling and Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris, Unremembered and Unforgotten by Jessica Brody, and other parallel universe book, and The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges, which is set in Russia.

Cover Art Review: I still love the use of watercolor texture and the city skylines. These are still some of my favorite covers and make me wish I bought them, but I liked the colors of the previous cover better. The indigo/navy blue with the stars in it is nice and reminds me of my own watercolor paintings of night skies.

Eternal by Kristi Cook

Series: Winterhaven (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: vampires, vampire hunters, supernatural, psychic ability, premonitions, boarding schools, New York, abilities

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 408 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “True love and destiny collide in the conclusion to the Haven trilogy, which Booklist called “a blend of the Gemma Doyle trilogy, the Twilight saga, and Lois Duncan’s thrillers.”

Forced to endure the violent punishment of the Tribunal for murders he has no recollection of committing, Aidan is slowly rotting away in a Paris dungeon. Violet is all but an unreachable dream to him now.

But unlike Aidan, Violet has not given up hope as she works tirelessly with Matthew, her guardian and protector, to prove Aidan’s innocence and unravel the haunting vision that plagues her thoughts—the death of someone closest to her.

Determined to set Aidan free, Violet discovers that a dangerous vampire war is brewing—and that Aidan may be at the center of it all. It’s only when the war reaches the doors of Winterhaven and tragedy strikes the school that Violet has to finally accept her fate. But that could mean losing Aidan—forever.

With no other option, Violet must choose between true love and fulfilling her destiny…unless she can find a way to have them both.”

My Review: This book was epic and the ending completely resolved the series. I loved every minute of it, even though the beginning of it started out slow due to the lack of Aidan. Once Aidan returned, everything was just full of awesome and of course, romance. I loved this series from the very beginning. When I first saw Haven I wasn’t aware that I was looking at a book with vampires. When I found out that there were vampires, I was hesitant thinking it would be just another vampire book with a boarding school. Not true. It was not just another vampire series, though if you love Vampire Academy, I’d recommend it. This book is unique. It’s like if Vampire Academy and X-men combined, kind of.

Violet is a Sabbat. She is a born vampire huntress. Aidan is a vampire, so you can see the dilemma. Matthew is her Megved, which is kind of like a Sabbat sidekick and guardian. Suppossedly a Sabbat and Megved have a deep soul-mate connection and usually become lovers, but Violet feels like Matthew is more of a big brother. He’s about 26 and she’s only almost 18. He’s a professor at Winterhaven. Their psychic connection is kind of inconvenient. I love how there isn’t a love triangle at all. Aidan does occasionally feel jealous when another guy is with Violet, but Aidan is such a gentleman. He believes that he can find a cure for his vampirism with science. He’s not a carbon copy of Edward Cullen, but they do share a few personality traits. Aidan is much better than Edward ever was. Aidan was the son of a king of England, but was a Viscount, not a prince. Aidan sometimes slips into a British accent. Aidan is pretty much one of my favorite vampire characters of all time. It must be the Aidan Effect.

I also love all the side characters. They all have cool powers and different personalities, but they’re Violet friends and truly care about her and help and support her. Cece has astral projection and she spies for Violet once in this book. Sophie can sense a person’s injury or ailment by touching them.  Other characters have psychic powers like telekinesis and empathy. I kind of forgot who had what, but remember after a while. I suggest you refresh your memory of who’s who before reading. Violet of course has premonitions beside her Sabbat abilities. Pretty much all of Violet visions from the previous book are realized in this book, but some have changed outcomes.

I love this series and now that it’s over I’m going to miss it. I always hope for spin-offs and novella after a series ends and sometimes they happen, but usually not. This book had it’s twists and turn and moments when you feel like you’re going to cry. This whole series gave me the feels and sometime I actually felt like I was Violet and that Aidan was my boyfriend that I cared about so much. I felt her pain. I must be a book empath or something. This is such an emotional read and it’s probably because the writing style is both simple and descriptive. It’s this lush, romantic story with its sexy part too. I don’t think any adult PNR could ever get to my heart the way that YA PNR like this has.

I recommend this series to fans of Vampire Academy, House of Night, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, the Shadow Falls series by C.C. Hunter, the Mythos Academy series by Jennifer Estep, Talents series by Inara Scott, The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey, and I guess if you liked Twilight, this series could work for you. Anyone who enjoys paranormal romance and psychic teens, read this book series.

Cover Art Review: I love the title, colors and the simplicity. The butterfly and the hourglass seem so awesome and minimal. Angela Goddard is the designer and she’s really into typographic and minimal. She also designed the Possession book covers and the Immortals series covers.

If I Should Die by Amy Plum

Series: Die For Me/Revenants series (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Paris, France, supernatural, love, death, zombies, ghosts, magic, immortality

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 405 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.
Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.
It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.
After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?”

 

My Review: After that horrible cliff hanger at the end of Until I Die, I was dying to read the 3^rd book. One year later I finally do get to and I glad that Vincent wasn’t totally and completely gone because that would ruin the story. Vincent became a wandering spirit, and Kate tries to find a way to get him a body. And if Vincent really is the Champion, this is a very bad thing for the bardia. But if Vincent isn’t the Champion, then who is? And how will they defeat Violette and the numa?

And after reading this book, all I can say is: I WAS RIGHT!!!! I AM SO SO VERY RIGHT!!! *dances and jumps up and down*. I’m not giving any spoilers, but I saw it coming in the middle of Until I Die, and it took forever to actually get to the point, but in part 2 of If I Should Die it’s finally revealed.

So why reveal it with only about 130 pages to go? Why end it with 3 books? Quartets are better than trilogies. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO END EVER?????!!!! (Let me keep Jules at least! I need that romantic French, artistic immortal to get me though the series withdrawal and possibly die for me in case I feel a bit suicidal or something. JK)

I love all the characters in this series. Jules is probably my favorite character because he’s a charming artist with a great sense of humor. After Jules, I like Kate and Vincent, both, together. I ship them, if ya know what I mean. Then Georgia, because she’s such a great sister. Almost like a best friend. I like Ambrose because he’s hilarious and similar to Jules, but not the mushy romantic type. The big tough brother type who’s very loyal. Then there’s Charlotte, who’s youngest female revenant. She’s also and loyal and great friend to Kate.

And of course there’s all the other bardia characters, like Jean-Baptist and Gaspard, Genevieve, Charles (who’s not in the book very much), Arthur (who’s crushing on Georgia), and Jeanne (human). Then there’s the evil bardia-turned-numa Violette and her cronies. Amy Plum did an awesome job creating characters. They feel so real. I kind of wish this became a TV show or a movie because I want to cast them.

This final book is a bit of an adventure, kind of like the last Angelfire book was, it has some Indiana Jones-esqe stuff in it. Not a lot of traveling, beside a visit to New York, but definably some decoding of revenant past and ritual and spells used by the healers. Bran helps Kate by letting her visit the archives of his healer family’s line. And Kate discovers some things that may help her help Vincent. And everything get better for a while, until Violette messes things up even more, and Kate finds herself in an unexpected situation, which she manages to get out of with some help.

The ending was an epic battle. Kate is so kick-butt, and there’s a lot of fighting between bardia and numa. It’s all very exciting and thriller and a great, bitter sweet ending to one of my favorite series. Some characters die, but I am happy to say most of them don’t die permanently.  

I recommend this series to fans of the Immortals series by Alyson Noel, the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, Vampire Academy, and Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, the Soul Screamers series, and Twilight series. Or anyone who loves paranormal romance and wants a trip to Paris via book.

Cover Art Review: I love the colors in the sky and the landscape. I like everything but the girl’s dress. That orange color is just ugly. Somebody did a bad job editing the color in Photoshop. Lot at the shadow on the bottom left of the cover. That’s supposed to be Vincent.  I love the swirl designs that wrap around the girl.

 

 

Die For Her by Amy Plum

Series: Revenants (bk. 1.5, novella)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Paris, France, supernatural, love, death

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 78 pgs. (on my Nook)

HC/PB: E-Book novella

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: "Set in the romantic and death-defying world of the international bestselling Die for Me trilogy, this digital original novella follows Jules, a brooding, immortal French artist who has fallen in love with his best friend’s girlfriend.
Jules Marchenoir is a revenant-an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save human lives. He’s spent the better part of the last century flirting his way through Paris, but when he met Kate Mercier, the heroine from Amy Plum’s Die for Me trilogy, he knew his afterlife had changed forever and he had found the love of his life. Until Kate fell for his best friend, Vincent. Now Jules is faced with an impossible decision: choosing between his loyal friend and a love truly worth dying for."

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: I love Jules. Ever since I started this series I’ve been team Jules all the way and kind of wished for Kate to be with him, even though Vincent is awesome and there is never a love triangle. If there ever was a love triangle, I’d definitely want it to be Jules. He’s so flirty and funny and kind of like a French version of Damon Salvator from the Vampire Diaries, except he doesn’t kill or drink blood. Jules is an artist and that makes him even better.

Here we got to see his perspective throughout the 1^st two Revenant novels. It’s not a really big spoiler, because this is just a novella, but Jules is falling for Kate. He’s starting to relize that his lifestyle of short relationship with many girls in not very fulfilling. “Fun” can get boring and sometime only one girl can truly make you fill happy. And it really makes me feel sorry for him because Kate only loves him as a friend.

Jules is so loyal and romantic, he deserves someone just for him. He doesn’t want to betray Vincent, and thankfully doesn’t. I hope he gets a girl who makes him truly happing in the last book, If I Should Die.

 

Cover Art Review: I love the colors and the photo. Wish Jules was on it.

~Haley G

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 8th

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Revenants (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, love, death, immortality, Revenants, ghosts, good vs. evil, heroes, Paris, France

Length: 353 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.
As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.
In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: This sequel was even better that the first book. Not only WAS Kate not depressed, she was kick-ass! The revenants are training her to sword fight. Vincent is romantic as ever, and Jules is…Jules (I love him! And all the other revenants, but mostly him.). Thankfully this sequel doesn’t introduce what so many paranormal romance sequels do: no love triangles, no break ups. Just Vincent trying not to die because he loves Kate so much. Nothing’s romantic as like undying love. And Paris. I still love, love, love the setting. I’ve not read many books that weren’t set in some English speaking country. Amy Plum does an amazing job describing the setting, and you really get the feel of the city, especially the art and museums

In this book we find out more about the history of revenants and about what they do. There’s some new characters, Violette and Arthur. They’re from the middle ages. There’s also the prophecy about a Champion revenant that will defeat the  Numa.

This book was amazing and the only problem I had with it was the ending. We get one heck of a cliff hanger. And now I have to wait a year till the next one.

I still recommend this book series. If you liked Twilight, you’ll love this way more! Revenants are way cooler than vamps!

Cover Art Review: It looks so much better now! The ARC copy’s cover makes the girl and the city scape not go together. They edited it so it looks more naturally lit. And the colors are gorgeous. Cool colors, teal, blue and purple. The dress is blowing behind Kate.

~Haley G

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Revenants (bk. 1, bk.2 is Until I Die)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, love, death, immortality, Revenants, ghosts, good vs. evil, heroes, Paris, France

Length: 341 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life - and memories - behind to live with her grandparents and older sister in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.”

My Rating: ê ê ê ê 1/2

My Review: I don’t care that people keep comparing this to Twilight, because I like Twilight, and this is very different from Twilight. Possibly better because instead of vamps, there are revenants. Though immortal, revenants are extremely different from vampires. Revenants age and don’t have any of the issues that vampires have. If you read the book, you will find out. It’s such a cool concept. Very original idea.

I really liked this book because it had a lot of humor, Vincent was hot and it’s set in modern day Paris. Sure, Kate’s not the most interesting main character (She‘s a boring Bella at times), but everything else in this book was awesome. I’m actually convinced that I should visit Paris someday. I’m into art, and this book really did talk a lot about the arts and culture of Paris. I actually meet the author, and she lives in Paris and talked about how she wanted her story to accurately describe the city. It’s cool because I don’t think I’ve read a YA book set in Paris ever. I’ve seen a lot of movies though. I’m sick of all the books set in London and New York (and also California, might I add). It’s nice for a change of scene.

I was surprised by how many funny quotes I found in this book. I thought the story was going to be dull and romantic, but it was pretty fun. The character Jules has quite the sense of humor. He likes Kate (but not as much as Vincent) and hit on her in ridiculous ways. Vincent and Ambrose are funny too. Really, everybody has more personality than Kate, but I think that as the book went on, Kate’s personality started to develop into a happier, less depressed/emo person. Away from being a boring Bella. Plus, Bella didn’t have a sister named Georgia or dead parents.

I recommend this to all the girls out there. (Especially if you’re a fan of The Immortals series) This book is your vacation to Paris! I weekend getaway, in book form.

Cover Art Review: Beautiful cover (so much better than the ARC cover). I love the designs and how they wrap around Kate and the dress she’s wearing. Though, she’s not going to be on the roof till book two, according to the author.

~Haley G