Death and the Girl He Loves by Darynda Jones

Series: Darklight Trilogy (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, prophecies, prophets, visions, premonitions, angels, demons, nephilim, New Mexico, love

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 255 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: MacMillan: St. Martin’s Griffin

Summary/ product description: “The fate of the world is not something a girl wants on her shoulders, and that is especially true for Lorelei McAlister. Unfortunately for her, that is exactly where the world’s fate has decided to take up residence. Lorelei has seen firsthand the horrors that lie beneath our everyday world. And those horrors are getting her friends killed. Because of this, she agrees to leave the sanctity of her hometown and is sent to a different world entirely. A boarding school. But even here she is being watched. Someone knows what she is. What she carries inside her soul. And on top of that she’s seeing visions. This is nothing new for Lorelei. But these visions are something more: death, destruction, and the end of the world. Lorelei must face the fact that there are people who want her dead, and no matter where she goes, no matter how far she runs, the lives of her friends and family are in mortal peril. Lucky for her, her friends and family include the handsome Angel of Death, a fiercely protective half-angel, and a ragtag group of loyal supporters who aren’t afraid to get a little dirty in the name of fighting pure evil.”

My Review: I didn’t realize that this was the last book in the series when I started reading it. I was hoping for more than three books, but this turned out to be an interesting conclusion. This turned out way differently than I expected. The ending was happy, and kind of epic.

I love this series so much. The covers are so unfitting for the book that’s inside. This has been fun and entertaining and full of romance. I love all the characters, both the main and side characters. Their personalities are so flushed out and they are developed so well that I feel like they’re real people. Lorelei and Brooklynn have the best friendship ever (I think it’s called a femship or womance). Jared is hot and the Angel of Death, and an interesting love interest. I like Glitch (aka Casey). He’s also a funny friend who has an odd fear of turtles (which I funny, near the end of the book when we find out why). Cameron is a nephilim and I’m pretty sure that he and Brooklyn like each other. The new character, Kenya, is also pretty funny. She acts so tough.

Anyways, the beginning of the book starts out at a boarding school in Maine. Lorelei’s been there for a few week, hiding out, going by Lorraine. She’s already made friends with a girl named Crystal and is being picked on by Kenya. Some guy threatens and attacks Lorelei and she decides to go back home to New Mexico. Thing are getting crazy there as the end of the world approaches. Lorelei, her friends and family come up with ideas on how to stop the word from ending. Lorelei’s ability to see into photos develops more. She’s basically seeing into the past, but it more like astral time-travel.

There’s a huge twist in the story in the last 80 pages or so. This may be a spoiler, but it’s funny when Lorelei thinks she’s in heaven and it’s crazy what actually happened. I think the ending did drag on a bit. I liked it, but I thought it was going in a different direction. I was expecting an epic battle, but what happened was even crazier than that. I was hoping things would go back to the way they were because I didn’t like this change, but everything worked out.

I’m kind of sad that it’s over now. So many other book series are four or five books, and thing trilogy was made up of pretty short book. The stories are so fast paced that you could probably read all three books in under a week. I read this book in less than 2 days and I feel like it went way to quick. I loved every second of it. I recommend this series to fans of Hush, Hush, Fallen, The Winter Haven series, and any other YA paranormal romance series. It’s truly a must read and is very under the radar.

Cover Art Review: Why are the covers so boring! School photos suck. I want to see New Mexico, angels and supernatural stuff. This looks too contemporary.

Death, Doom and Detention by Darynda Jones

Series: Darklight (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Angels, visions, prophets, psychic ability, nephilim, supernatural, New Mexico

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 296 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: Macmillan: St. Martin’s Griffin

Summary/ product description: “The normal part of Lorelei MacAlister’s life didn’t just slip away quietly the day Jared Kovach came to town. Nope. The normal part of her life shattered. It exploded. It burst into a gazillion shards of fleeting light.
It went out with a bang.
Goodbye normal.
Hello dark and eerie.
While her best friend, Brooklyn, is focusing all of her energy on helping Lorelei hone her abilities, Lorelei is dealing with the reality that Satan’s second in command has taken up residence inside her body. Oh, and the fact that she has a crush on the Angel of Death. But what a beautiful death it is. If those weren’t bad enough, something sinister has come to town and it wants nothing more than to hear Lorelei’s dying breath as it strangles it out of her. Thank goodness the gang has a supernatural champion. But what happens when the only being who can save them switches sides midstream? How can a group of misfits capture one of the most powerful beings ever created? And will they find out how to bring Jared back to them before it’s too late?”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: I love this series. It was so under the radar and had deceptive looking covers. This sequel is just as good as the first book. I love the characters so much. As I said in my review of Death and the Girl Next Door, I love the dialogue and relationships between the characters. Lorelei, Brooke and Glitch have the most hilarious, sarcasm filled conversations ever. Banter and teasing and all kinds of fun. I wish I had friends like them. They’re so loyal and amazing. And Lorelei’s inner monologue is funny too. 

Jared reminds me a lot of Patch from Hush, Hush. He’s also an archangel, not really fallen, but just the angel of Death, Azrial here on Earth.  He’s dark and protective, but mostly good. He turns bad for a little while in the book, but thankfully doesn’t stay that way. He’s very hot too. Cameron, who like Brooke, and is not in a love triangle with Lorelei and Jared, but rather in one with Brooke and Glitch, is also a great character. He’s another really hot, tall guy who just so happens to be a nephilim. It you read the 1^st book, you know all this, but I really just want to say how much I like them both. Brooklyn is the best friend. She’s half African American, half Caucasian. She says the funniest stuff. She made this book awesome. Glitch is a bit nerdy and hates Cameron. Lots of high school drama in this series. Lots of great characters you can really care about. There’re deep and not at all boring. Never a dull moment.

This book’s plot is based around the arrival of nephilim descendants that are out to kill Lorelei before she can fulfill the prophecy as the last prophet of Arabeth. Students start acting really violent after they show up. Lots of crazy stuff starts happening to students and Lorelei. And to Jared. Lorelei also learns a new depth to her visions. A new way to see thing. I agree with Brooke. Her new power is very cool.

This series is not at all cliché. I mean, beside the high school drama stuff, it’s very unique and I hope the uniqueness continues. I love angel books so much. And this one’s in New Mexico! I recommend this series to those who enjoyed any of the following Angel-related series: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Hush, Hush by Becca FitzPatrick, Fallen by Lauren Kate, Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, A beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies.

Also other series that this book has similarities too: Vampire Diaries (Jared reminds me of Damon.), House of Night (Because the friendship, and school stuff).

Cover Art Review: I hate these covers so much!!! So boring. These books need good covers with a hot angel of death on them. And that red head is the same girl on the cover of A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young.

 

~Haley G

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Series: Paranormalcy (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Supernatural, magic, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, faeries, souls, humor, romance, curses, prophecies, government agencies

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 385 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate.
The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands.
So much for normal.”

My Rating: êêêêê+

My Review: Oh bleep! Bleep! BLEEP!!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVEEEE THESE BOOKS. (Seriously, check out my review for Supernaturally. I did this whole poem about it.)

What an exciting conclusion to one of my favorite series this has been. I loved this series since page 1 of Paranormalcy. I hate that this is only a trilogy. I feel like there could have been more. Maybe a spin-off series? I’d love that. Or a novella at least. Anyways, it was a good ending. Nothing too scary. Just tons of fun and humor and crazy evil faeries. Best faerie-related series ever! Really. I don’t usually like faerie books. Ever since reading the Wicked Lovely series…

I love all the characters and they will probably be one of my favorite casts. This series is fit for a TV show series. Clearly, the author watched a lot of shows with kick-but girls (see the videos of Kiersten talking about Veronica Mars and Buffy on Epic Reads.) Evie’s dialogue is fun a quirky and sarcastic. And the character Jack is funny too. He reminds me of Todd from the Soul Screamers series. Lend is awesome. I want him to be my boyfriend! Lol. There’s this really funny curse put on him that makes him fall asleep. Read this book, you’ll find out. And I think I even liked Reth now. He’s just trying to help in his own twisted way. Really, a lot of the characters that were “bad” in the other books change for the better. This book is pretty epic, with a few subplots that feel almost like climaxes.

I liked Evie obsession with Easton Heights. It make her more real to have a favorite TV show. She just wants to be normal. Speaking of Normal, that’s where IPCA is. It just so happens to be where my friend is now living and going to college. But the book’s still mostly in Virginia and the Faerie realms.

I just can’t believe it’s over. Please CW/ABC Family, someone…please option this for a TV series and don’t screw it up! Or a movie…Okay, well maybe we can at least have graphic novels/mangas?

Cover Art Review: I love the color! So purple! And that dress is just like the one in the book! Beautiful. I love the covers of all these books!

 

~Haley G

Death and The Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Series: Darklight (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: High school, angels, psychic ability, stalkers, supernatural, orphans, New Mexico

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 274 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: MacMillan: St. Martin’s Griffin Press

Summary/ product description: “Darynda Jones, author of The New York Times bestselling series that began with First Grave on the Right, brings us Death and the Girl Next Door, a thrilling Young Adult novel garnering high praise and early buzz from major authors
Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on.
High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: Based off the cover, you’d never guess how awesome this book is. It doesn’t look paranormal, but it totally is. It’s one of the best paranormal romances I’ve read recently. I a big fan of angel book, and this was a really good one despite the lack of flying. It was full of surprises and great, funny characters.

I really liked all five of the main characters (Lorelei, Brooklyn, Glitch, Cameron, and Jared). They made a great team, despite the fighting between Cameron and Jared in the beginning. If you love the Hush, Hush series, the Fallen series, or basically any high school paranormal romance series, this series is not to be missed! I also like the setting. New Mexico is a great backdrop (Like Wyoming was in Unearthly).

This book was fun, full of the most hilarious conversations and dialogue I’ve ever read. Lorelei, Brooklyn and Glitch banter a lot. I really wish I owned a copy of this book because of all those quotes I would have underlined. I felt like I was part of the conversation. The characters are just so realistic. And Jared, he’s just so hot, but I think I might like Cam more personality wise. He’s funnier.

Stalking is only really part of the beginning. The main story is Lorelei’s discoveries about her purpose and past. But we also find out about her friends too. I really excited for Death, Doom and Detention. This series really need to be promoted more. I was so glad that I found out about this because I love angel books.

Cover Art Review: Boring cover. Does not look paranormal. Looks too much like a contemporary book. I would have never picked this up based off the cover.

 

~Haley G