School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Series: Standalone spin-off to Hex Hall

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Mystery

Subjects: supernatural, ghosts, hauntings, spirits, hunters, magic, witches

Setting: mainly in Ideal, Mississippi

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Izzy Brannik

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 297 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover originally, now in Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: Hyperion

Summary/ product description: “Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as the New York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!”

My Review:  This is a very fun spin-off. I am disappointed that there is no sequel to it since the ending wasn’t completely satisfying, with Izzy’s missing sister. There’s no cliffhanger, so it works as a standalone. Izzy Brannik was a character introduced in Spellbound, the final Hex Hall novel. She was a tween in that book and now she’s almost 16. So this takes place a few years after the events of Spellbound.

Finley, her sister went missing and her mother send Izzy out on her first job alone. She goes after a vampire, but her mom has to save her. They find out about a violent haunting in Ideal, Mississippi and move there. There’s a deadly ghost at the high school and Izzy gets her first chance of going to a real school. She makes friends with the ghost-hunting club member Romy, Dex and Anderson.

She learns about what happened to the biology teacher that was killed. Another student in threatened similarly. Also Izzy feel magic when she touches Dex. It’s very usually since she can usually sense Prodigium at a distance, not only by touch. So, what is Dex? He’s quirky, fashionably dressed, and likes to talk fancy, but he’s not a vampire or warlock and he doesn’t smell like a werewolf. Izzy’s falling for him. He reminds me a lot of Archer (who had blue eyes too) with his humor.

I really enjoyed this and the series that it came from. Rachel Hawkins’s humor is pretty awesome. Sure, Izzy is more tough-girl than Sophie, who was a total smart-alec. I notice that she uses “Fair enough” too much and family disfunctionality stuff. Some humor is dialogue get repetitive, but I still love it. If you never read the Hex Hall series and love magic and paranormal romance, then you should check it out.

Cover Art Review: Funky and fun like the covers for the previous books.

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate

Series: Fallen (bk. 5)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, angels, paranormal, romance, love, demons, high school, musicians

Setting: A town and a high school in Hell, and Lilith doesn’t know it’s Hell

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, past tense: Cam and Lilith

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 357 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Hachette: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “It’s the book FALLEN fans have been waiting for: Cam’s story, the brooding, bad-boy dark angel readers love.

High school can be hell.

Cam knows what it’s like to be haunted. He’s spent more time in Hell than any angel ever should. And his freshest Hell is high school, where Lilith, the girl he can’t stop loving, is serving out a punishment for his crimes.

Cam made a bet with Lucifer: he has fifteen days to convince the only girl who really matters to him to love him again. If he succeeds, Lilith will be allowed back into the world, and they can live their lives together. But if he fails…there’s a special place in Hell just for him.

Tick-tock.

Spread your wings and cry as bad boy dark angel Cam finally reveals his anguished heart in the epic new FALLEN novel, UNFORGIVEN.”

My Review:  After finally finishing the Fallen series after years of waiting, I decided to read the brand new companion to the series that’s centered around Cam. Cam is a great character and now I’ve convinced I like him better than Daniel (but not better than Patch from Hush, Hush). He may have status as a demon, but he’s definitely a good guy. He’s got a great sense of humor, and he’s not pushy when it comes to romance. He’s got bad boy look, but he’s pretty sweet when it comes to love.

This book take place in a fake town within Hell. Lucifer creates personal hells just for Lilith. Lilith’s heart was broken by Cam 3000 years ago, near the Jordon River when Cam wanted to marry her. Cam’s not able to enter places of worship, and Lilith was mad that he would not marry in a temple. Cam wouldn’t tell her that he’s a fallen angel and that setting foot in a temple would cause it to burn down. Lilith’s hatred is so deep and now Lucifer is putting her through constant punishment, making her live life after life, death after death, in different hells he creates.

Lilith is a high school student this time. He life sucks and the other bright spots are her guitar playing and her younger brother (who’s got breathing problems). Music is her escape. Cam meets her by a creek, strumming her guitar. She doesn’t remember him, but has a general dislike for him. He enrolls in her school, posing as a student. His goal is to win her love back, or Lucifer will force him to be his employee. Prom in coming up and it’s featuring a battle of the bands.

Lilith is terrified of performing and Cam tries to encourage her to showcase her talent and create a band. When she does make a band, she doesn’t want Cam in it, but eventually lets him join. Lucifer makes it difficult for Cam when he shows up pretending to be an intern for King Media, the queen bee Chloe King’s father’s record company. He even messes with Cam’s appearance. He’s giving Cam Hell, but Cam’s doing his best to fight for Lilith’s love. The book does have a lot of annoying high school rivalry and bullying. Chloe King’s meaner to Lilith than any mean girl would be in real life. It makes sense, though, since she is in Hell.

This was a fun, entreating read. It’s very refreshing, different from the original Fallen books. The dialogue it funny and the characters are great. I love the music stuff. This reminds be of Sinner by Maggie Steifvater, another companion/stand-alone spin-off to a series (the Shiver series). Music, magic, mayhem. Demons and fallen angels. It’s a fun supernatural read and I’d definitely recommend it.

Cover Art Review: Not sure I like the model in the photo, but I like the background and title text. I love the color and the velvet texture of the paper of the jacket.

Remember Me by Romily Bernard

Series: Find Me (bk. 2)

Genera: Suspense/Thriller/Realistic/ Contemporary Romance

Subjects: hackers, computers, high school, mystery, murder, crime

Setting: Peachtree, Georgia

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Wick Tate

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 355 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “In the sequel to Find Me, Wick Tate, sarcastic teen hacker, is back and once again dealing with criminals and corrupt cops…and a brooding new love interest. Will Wick persevere when some secrets refuse to stay hidden?

Wick had thought her troubles were over.

But she should’ve known better.

Not only is she embroiled in a new murder case, which starts with a body with “Remember Me” carved into it and doesn’t stop there, but she also discovers new evidence surrounding her mother’s suicide…which leads her right back to her imprisoned deadbeat dad. And she has to deal with her flirty new hacker friend, Milo, sniffing around—which her boyfriend, Griff, isn’t too happy about.

The pressure might be too much as secrets—including Wick’s own—climb to the surface.

Remember Me is an edge-of-your-seat thrilling read that’ll have readers turning the pages at lightning speed!”

My Review:  Remember Me, the sequel to Find Me, is an awesome thrill ride full of hacking, mystery and murder. This series is one of the few realistic fiction series that I actually enjoyed. It’s like something out of a movie or TV show. Wick Tate is a funny and sarcastic heroine. She like all you favorite hacker/techie characters combined. In the first book her hair was red (Like Charlie on Supernatural) but now it’s blond. She and her sister Lily have been official adopted by Bren. She’s got a new life and an awesome boyfriend named Griff. Things are going well…sort of.

Carson, that blackmailing cop has got another case for her to investigate with her hacking skills. Something about Judge Bay, who he thinks is a dirty judge. Wick goes to the judge’s costume party and a woman there is murdered and there’s message on the body saying REMEMBER ME. Wick continues to look into Bay’s past and start helping his son with a school project. She’s also looking into the murder.

We meet a new character name Milo, who’s the best “builder” and creates awesome tech. There’s some romance and fight and stuff happens. Wick’s got a lot going on and her sister and Bren could be in danger. Also she’s getting these anonymous DVD of her mother being interviewed by cops. Her mother died jumping off a roof, so Wick hope that she can find out why.

This series is kind of cyber-punk, but mostly and story of suspense and a thrilling mystery. It’ll keep you guessing who the killer is. It’s also got southern style, since it’s set in Georgia, near Atlanta. Awesome guys, and kickass heroines. It’s a real page-turner.

Cover Art Review: I wish that this cover wasn’t gray. Black or white would have given it more contrast so the image that the test is over could stand out better. It works well when it’s really small.