Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Series: Standalone

Genera(s): Paranormal/Horror

Subjects: monsters, supernatural, revenants, mystery, death, murderers, magic

Setting: Nebraska, Wyoming and Boulder, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Breezy Lin

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 358 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegen

Summary/ product description: “Breezy remembers leaving the party: the warm, wet grass under her feet, her cheek still stinging from a slap to her face. But when she wakes up, scared and pulling dirt from her mouth, a year has passed and she can’t explain how.

Nor can she explain the man lying at her grave, dead from her touch, or why her heartbeat comes and goes. She doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past.

Haunted by happy memories from her life, Breezy sets out to find answers in the gritty, threatening world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight, and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she discovers is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.”

My Review: I had no idea what to expect from this book. I went in kind of blindly. I only read this because the supernatural elements. It had this broody atmospheric feeling from the start, when Breezy’s at a gas station in Nebraska and there’s summer storm in the distance. She can sense killers. They have a dark aura. Some young guy named Danny tells her about a church that could help her. She thinks that he think’s she a drug addict and homeless.

Breezy hitches a ride with an older guy that’s definitely a murderer. She knowingly enters a car with a murderer, which is dumb, unless you can heal really fast and not die. Breezy was dead for a year and returned with these abilities. And also, she can pull the memories out of the murders she finds, rendering them in a coma or dead. Breezy ditches the murderer and takes to the road by skateboard in search of this church. Since she doesn’t have to eat of sleep, she’s got plenty of time and energy.

The church turns out to be a cover for some anti-monster folks trying to cure the monsters of their afflictions. They say Breezy is unnatural and she ends up in a room with blood on the wall and another girl named rain who’s some kind of a monster. Breezy is able to get some answers from her, but Breezy still doesn’t know what she became when she rose from the dead. Answers don’t come until later.

Shallow Grave is pretty intriquing and unique, but it’s not the most exciting paranormal story. I enjoyed this interesting setting and some of the humor. I think Breezy’s scientific curiosity and love of astronomy is pretty awesome. She turn “ways I can’t die” into a morbid experiment. Breezy also mixed racial, half-Chinese, half-Irish and has 2 sisters named Sunny and Meadow. Interesting name choices.

There is mystery, but it’s not delivered in the best way. There’s no anticipation and not much build up. This book is only a standalone. I recommend this to fans of book like the Outliers, the Soul Screamers series, and other book with dark mysteries or monsters.

Cover Art Review: I like the watercolor texture of the sky and the creepy underground roots. It’s a simple and creepy brooding cover.

The Beautiful and the Damned by Jessica Verday

Series: Companion novel to The Hollow trilogy (spin-off)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: revenants, demons, angels, supernatural, possession, New Hampshire

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 266 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Cyn’s blackouts have deadly consequences in this sexy, suspenseful spinoff to the New York Times bestselling Hollow series. Cyn and Avian are far from a perfect match. She’s a witch who casts spells on men so she can steal their cars. He spends his time being judge, jury, and executioner to the truly evil in the supernatural realm.

When the blackouts Cyn’s been having ever since her time in Sleepy Hollow start escalating, she finds herself unable to remember where she’s been or what she’s been doing. Frightened, she seeks guidance at a local church, and it’s there she meets Avian.

The unlikely pair soon discovers that her blackouts are a side effect of what she truly is—an Echo—a conduit for souls of the dead. The only way to prevent Cyn from losing complete control is to return to Sleepy Hollow and vanquish the source of her power—but she may not survive the process. And if she does? She won’t ever be the same...”

My Review: I recommend reviewing what happened in the Hollow series before reading this. I completely forgot who Cyn was and what characters were what. You do eventually find out, but it’s nice to refresh you memory. I loved the Hollow series, so I was excited when I found out about this spin-off. I was hoping that it would be set in Sleepy Hollow, but most of it was set in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. I don’t think I ever read a book set in New Hampshire, and this book didn’t really describe the setting much. The opening of the book was Cyn working at a diner as a waitress.

We also get to meet Avian a.k.a. Thirteen. He’s half demon, half angel and also a revenant. I love book with angels in them. I loved the part when Cyn found out he had wings and when she made a comment about how it would be impolite to touch them. We find out early on the Cyn is a Echo, and she’s constantly getting possessed by souls, and now Vincent, who we met in the Hollow also, is inside her. Cyn’s memories of Sleepy Hollow are foggy, but she vaguely remembers Abbey. Cyn’s on the run because she killed her boyfriend Hunter and now a cop whose Hunter’s brother is after her.

The story is a really fast paced, short read. You could easily read it in one sitting because the lines on the paging have a very open leading. This book make a great companion to the Hollow trilogy and is does it justice. We get to meet other paranormal creatures, including Hellhounds and vampires.

It’s really awesome, and if you enjoyed The Hollow, you’ll love this. Also, if you’re a fan of the Sleepy Hollow TV show, you should read the whole series. I wondering if there’ll be anymore spin-off, but it works well as a standalone. I can’t wait to read whatever Jessica Verday is writing next.

Cover Art Review: It fit with the Hollow series. I like the wings and the embossment of the gold edges.

Awaken by Meg Cabot

Series: Abandon (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: Greek mythology, underworld, death, supernatural, magic, Florida

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 343 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Scholastic: Point

Summary/ product description: “From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth comes to a thrilling conclusion.
Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.
Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.
But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.
If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.”

My Review: This final book was definitely the best book in the whole series. Pierce was less of a ditzy, air-head and was more kick-ass. She’s definitely grown as a character. I didn’t like her in the 1^st book at all really, and in this one I do. And there was more action and romance, and twists. This book was just so much more enjoyable, that I’m sad I didn’t like Abandon and Underworld that much. This was truly an epic finale.

I really cared about the characters this time. John is dark, sexy and old-fashion. He had something happen to him in the 1^st half of the book that wasn’t so great, but things turned out well. Kayla is such a cool, awesome friend to Pierce. She takes to the underworld and Frank pretty well. She’s so funny and tough. Alex really stepped it up in this book, after what happened to him at the end of Underworld. Mr. Smith was helpful to Pierce as always. There were some new characters in the underworld, too. And Hope, the dove. She still reminds me of my parakeets.

I love the setting, too. This is the only series I’ve read set in the Florida Keys. It’s not even a mermaid book, but mythology it is. I have never been to Florida or even the ocean, so it was kind of a virtual island vacation. Even though much of the book was during a hurricane, and then after it.

Also the underworld setting is interesting. A cave with a castle? Awesome. I’m picturing stalagmite towers. The first 100 pages of the book are in the underworld, which is now hot for some Fury-related reason.

Out of all these book, the most happened in this one. The plot was well done and I was never confused or bored. Maybe the previous books were actually this good and I was just not in the right mood for them. I am a bit of a mood reader, and don’t enjoy certain things when I’m in the wrong mood, so maybe that’s what happened. I liked this book a lot, and mostly because the plot. And the added mythology of Thanatos made it interesting. And fighting/banishing furies with the Persephone diamond Pierce has.

I recommend this series to fans of mythology, and paranormal romance. Also if you liked Die For Me (Revenants trilogy) by Amy Plum, Falling Under by Gwen Hayes, or Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini.

Cover Art Review: I love the cover so much. It’s purple! Such a pretty shade of lavender and violet. Pierce looks like she’s holding a dead John or maybe Alex. And the pink-purple of the cover under the duct jacket cover is beautiful. I live the type treatment on the A, and the vector flower designs. And it’s metallic, like the previous books.

 

 

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