Mini Reviews - Delirium, Angelfire, Radiance

EDITED. So, Blogger is a bastard (sorry to any offended) Radiance WAS reviewed, but for some reason the review disappeared leaving just the description and the rating *grumbles* Being unable to remember it word for word, it's now shorter and worse, but it is at least reviewed again.

Yep, another of those Mini Reviews posts. Delirium and Angelfire because they were early eARC's from NetGalley and I am waiting til closer to release to post full reviews. Radiance because I don't really have enough to say about it for it to be a considered a full review, so I'm adding it in here instead.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

"Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love"

First in a planned new dystopian trilogy. I really liked this book. It's got some great ideas and it's well played out, but for a long while, despite liking it, I felt a serious disconnect with the main character, Lena. I don't know why, but I just didn't connect with her very well so while the writing and pacing was excellent, I found I could just put it down and walk away easily. I liked Lena, I just didn't connect with her. I did enjoy the story though, and I really didn't have a clue what would happen right until the end. I wasn't too happy about one particular thing near the end, but otherwise thought it was a very good read. I can't quite say I loved it because it wasn't until about 3/4 through the book that I really connected with Lena and it got really intense for me. That's when I struggled to put it down. Still, it's great and I recommend it. Oddly, it reads (or did to me) as a standalone right until the final chapter. With a couple minor tweeks I think it would make a fantastic standalone book. I'm still looking forward to book 2 though and suspect I could enjoy that a lot more, but I'd got no idea where this series is going. Rating: 7/10

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

"When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember."

Angel books appear to be taking over the YA UF genre right now. Not all of them good, but this is one of the great ones. I was hooked within a few pages and struggled to put it down. It's got a lot of action, and unlike most YA books right now it seems, it's got decidedly little romance. There is a romantic plot, but it's a long while before it really comes up. It's very intense when it does, and perfectly played, but it is a sub-plot, at least for the time being. I loved the action in this book, I loved Ellie (the protagonist) and how she learnt and dealt with the things she discovered. I love Will, her bodyguard. He's very hot, mysterious and has just about everything going for him. He kind of broke my heart at one point, but I still love him completely. Some great twists and the ending was really intense. I'm very excited for more in this series!! Rating: 9/10


Radiance by Alyson Noel

"Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley..."

Copy received for review thanks to Lynsey at UK Book Tours.
This is the first book in the spin off series from the Immortals one (book 1 is Evermore) focusing on Riley. This is amied at younger audience than the Immortals series, which I don't normally read, but as I liked the first couple books in that series I thought I'd give it a try. Sadly it didn't work for me. I liked Riley a lot in Evermore, but no so much as a protagonist. However, it's still a fun, sweet, cute read with a good cast and plot. Younger readers and those who enjoy younger fiction, will likely really enjoy it, it just wasn't for me. Rating: 5/10

Kisses From Hell Anthology Review

This is a new young adult anthology featuring vampire stories from 5 different authors: Kelley Armstrong, Richelle Mead, Alyson Noel, Kristin Cast and Francesca Lia Block.

Sunshine by Richelle Mead - 8/10 - This short story is set in Richelle's Vampire Academy series and is the story of how Lissa Dragomir's parents met (for non VA fans, Lissa is the best friend of the protagonist). I loved getting to meet these two characters who we've heard very little of and never met (they died a couple of years before we meet Lissa in VA). For those up to date on the VA series, you'll understand why I was so curious to see Eric and Rhea together. It's a really good short story that I loved, a great 'extra' for VA fans, but I would hope that non VA fans would enjoy it as well. Really wished it had been longer!!

Bring Me To Life by Alyson Noel - 5/10 - Danika has travelled to England from the US to go to an exclusive art academy, an escape from her inattentive father, her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend who hooked up. But what she finds is a mansion more than a little creepy. And no other students around. I kind of liked this story, I liked the start a lot. Danika was likable, and the crazy situation she found herself in was interesting. But I didn't particularly like the outcome. It wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't to my taste.

Above by Kristin Cast - 2/10 - This story was...one of the strangest I've read (or tried to read) in a long while. Above and below don't mix, they hunt and kill each other, and in theory there is a star-crossed love story in here, somewhere. It was twisted, strange and I could barely figure out what was going on.

Hunting Kat by Kelley Armstrong - 8/10 - I loved this short story a lot! It's another short story set in Kelley's YA world, which started with her Darkest Powers trilogy and will continue with her Darkness Rising one next year. Kat was first introduced with a short story in The Eternal Kiss anthology. Kat's stories are (for the moment at least) completely unconnected to the main novels, just in the same world. This short story is set about 6 months after Kat's first short, though you wouldn't have to read it to understand this one. I actually enjoyed this a lot more than Kat's first short, and wished it was a lot longer. Kat is being hunted again, but this time, she's not alone.


Lilith by Francesca Lia Block - 3/10 - bit of an odd story. A boy who spends most of his time living in a fantasy world of his own creation suddenly has the attention of a girl who's far too beautiful to be human. He welcomes her unnaturalness, the chance to be strong, if only he has her by his side he feels he'll be just fine. I didn't like the way things went in this story. Didn't really like anything about the main character and thus didn't care what happened, and what happened all worked out kind of strange.

So I only liked two of the five stories, but those two, Hunting Kat (Kelley Armstrong) and Sunshine (Richelle Mead), made it worth buying for me. I wish they'd been longer, but for short stories they had a lot of detail and depth to them, very enjoyable and great additions to the series/worlds they're set in. Or I think they'd make good introductions to the authors if readers haven't read anything by them yet. Shame about the other three, but anthologies are always hit and miss. Wouldn't be surprised to see others thinking a lot of the stories I didn't enjoy. Overall 6/10

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers for the first book, Evermore, present. Not for this book :)

Blue Moon is the second book in the Immortals series which started with Evermore. Ever is trying to adapt to life as an immortal, she's taking lessons from Damen (boyfriend teaching her = big distraction!) on how to use the power she has, whilst still attending school (which Damen also believes a waste of time) and trying to prove to her aunt that her not eating doesn't mean she's anorexic. Not too easy, but it could be worse. Then, just when things seem to be levelling out, getting a little easier for Ever, they suddenly start getting weird. Again. And more so than before. But Ever can't figure out exactly what's causing Damen's behaviour changes, or in her friends at school either. She's convinced a rogue immortal is at work, but with her limited experience and practise of her own immortal powers, is it enough to get to the truth before it's too late?

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and this wasn't a let down for me. I felt it was a little slower to start, but it did pick up and had a good plot. We learn a lot more about how Summerland, the in-between world works and about where immortals come from, the powers they possess etc. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book, but it was still really good. It particularly picked up towards the end as Ever faced some tough decisions and you can certainly see why she made the ones she did.

There was the introduction of two new characters in Summerland, who I could never decide if I trusted or not. Not a bad thing, they were interesting and I liked the indecision they brought and how Ever dealt with them. Ever herself developed a bit in this, showing her strength, and her weakness at times. The book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, with a lot left unsaid and a lot needing dealt with. I do like this series quite a lot, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one, but I don't see it becoming a top favourite any time soon. Very good filler reads between new releases I'm anxiously waiting for though! 7/10

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Evermore is the first book in the Immortals series.

"Sometimes love is eternal. For good...for evil...for ever.

Sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom is the sole survivor of a car accident that killed her family. Exiled to sunny California, Ever is haunted by her little sister and by the ability to see people's auras, hear their thoughts and know their entire life story by touching them. She wants to hide from the world, but when a stunningly handsome new guy arrives at school, she can't seem to keep away. Falling in love with Damen is dangerous - he's not what he seems. But if Damen is her destiny, how can Ever walk away?"

I really liked this book! There are a lot of young adult books out there right now with sappy, passive female protagonists who suddenly find themselves the love interest for a too-hot-for-words, centuries old immortal being. And suddenly he's all she can think about and no matter what he does, how strange he is, she'll do anything for him. I tire of reading about girls like that quickly. I like protags who kick ass, or at least call the guy out on his 'weirdness'. Which Ever does.

There is a lot more to this book than just a love story as well, something else I like. It's also the story of a teenager battling the pain, grief and guilt of being the sole survivor of a car accident that killed her family. Something that is sensitively and realistically handled. It also doesn't help Ever that she can see auras, hear other peoples thoughts and is visited most days by the ghost of her little sister, Riley.

Then enter Damen. The super hot new guy whose aura and thoughts Ever can't see or hear. With Damen around things start to get even stranger for her and Ever finds herself finding out that seeing auras isn't the only thing some people can do. And the more she discovers, the harder she's pushed to make some tough decisions.

This book is a pretty fast read, filled with angst but without dragging. And there are some good funny moments as well to break the tension. Ever is a pretty well rounded, realistic character and you can really see where she's coming from and why. She's smart, but still makes mistakes, and is very much a typical teenager in many ways, stubborn, rebellious, and obsesses on the hottest guy in school a fair bit. Damen and the side characters aren't quite so well rounded, but there is enough to them to make them stand out and add depth to the book as well.

Overall, I thought it was a very good read. Well written, fast paced and some good twists I didn't see coming as well. Really looking forward to picking up the rest of the series!! If you like Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, Lili St. Crow's Strange Angels or Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series, there's a good chance you'll like this one! Or if you liked this, then I'd really recommend you give those others a shot too. 8/10