Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Series: Teardrop, Book One

Publisher: RandomHouse

Format: ARC

Published: 24^th October 2013

Number of Pages: 464

Book: For Review*

Genre: Dark Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mythical, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, YA

Recommended Age: 13+

Contains: Swearing, Death, Alcohol and Suicide References

No Drug References

Author's Site: Lauren Kate

Never, ever cry…

Seventeen-year-old Eureka won’t let anyone close enough to feel her pain.

After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning.  She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean.

And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea.  Suddenly her mother’s death and Ander’s appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don’t make sense.

Can everything you love be washed away?

                                                                   Review:

“Never, ever cry again…"

Ever since she was a little girl, Eureka Boudreaux's mother has been told that she can never, ever cry - no matter what.

But now Eureka’s mother Diana is gone, killed in a freak accident, and Eureka feels as dead as her mother.  She feels broken, empty, and secretly wishes she'd died alongside her mother.

And everywhere Eureka goes, there's Ander.  Ander, the mysterious boy who knows all kinds of things that he shouldn't know.  The boy who is the first person since the accident to worm his way past her defences, the boy who brings her closer to tears than she ever has been in her life.

And then, at the reading of her mother's will, Eureka is left an old book in a language no one she knows can read.  And Ander carries on following her, warning her, protecting her...

Behind the secrets and confusion lies an ancient story, one that ended in pain and death.  Can Eureka escape fate?  Or will everything she's ever loved just... wash away…?

I must say, I really did enjoy the Fallen series.  And therefore I just knew I needed Teardrop - ASAP.  I was even more intrigued once I read about the concept behind the book.  I've got to admit, I preferred Teardrop.  I just adored the uniqueness of the mythology and found myself one-hundred-percent hooked from the beginning.  

I also couldn't help seeing the similarities between Luce from the Fallen series and Eureka.  Both are pretty damaged, drawn to the mysterious types, have weird pasts/destinies...  For some reason, this kind of muddied my feelings towards Eureka for a while.  But I do prefer her to Luce, I think.  Even though Eureka is so very broken and distant, you can still feel her pain.  Anyone who's ever lost someone close to them will be able to relate to Eureka and what she feels for her dead mother.  So even though there were times when I could literally smack the back of Eureka's head, I still found her a compelling and thoroughly interesting character, albeit not always overly loveable.

Then there’s Ander...   I'm not entirely sure what to make of him.  I didn't love him or hate him.  He did the whole stalker thing, which I'm not a fan of (hello: felony?) but he was doing it for a reason, unlike certain other characters.  I just don't think he was really in it enough for me to get a proper read (no pun intended).  There was also the whole sorta insta-love – on Eureka's side, at least.  It was more understandable for Ander.  I'm really interested to see where the two of them are going...

As for the other characters, I absolutely loved her best friend Cat: she was brilliant!  And Eureka's younger siblings were too cute!

But I've got to admit, the whole best-friend-being-in-love-with-female-protagonist-causing-a-love-triangle is beginning to really bug me.  It's just so, so overused now.  I mean, why can't a boy and girl be friends without one being in love with the other or one being gay?  Seriously: people of opposite genders can really just be friends!  I know, I was shocked by this too….   Ok, sorry for the rant.  It’s not even overly justified here, because the before-mentioned love triangle wasn't what it first appeared to be...  

The plot: well, I found it damn near impossible to tell where the book was taking me.  I may have guessed a few twists, but I was just so drawn in by the story.  It may have started kind of slow following the prologue, but it added to the suspense, the mystery.  

And there's no denying that Kate's writing is amazing – both in Teardrop and in her other books.  I must say, I loved the kind of pained-angsty feel to the writing – it really fitted in with Eureka's personality.  However, perhaps due to the third person and Eureka's withdrawn emotions, I did find it a little hard to really connect with her...  The subtle(ish) religious undertones bugged me a bit, too.  As someone who isn't overly religious, I do get a little annoyed when religion is thrown in so often – although again, I guess it's to be expected given the mythology and setting...  But distance and religion aside, it's really hard to fault Kate's beautiful writing.

Especially any of the bits that referred to the Book of Love and the love story within.  I mean, the mythology in Kate's book is one of the most unique I've ever come across.  It's just so freaking cool!  Seriously cool!  Seriously!  And after that ending... well, I can't wait to see what happens next!

All in all, I loved Teardrop.  The story and mythology were both so utterly unique, the writing beautiful and the characters interesting.  Whilst certain aspects did bug me a little, I am desperately awaiting the second books – my mild annoyances were completely overshadowed by the bits I really like about this book.  

Star Rating:
3¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Revenants by Amy Plum

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from RandomHouse in exchange for an honest review

** Quotes used are from a proof copy and may have been changed in the finished book

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Series: The 5^th Wave, Book One

Publisher: Penguin

Format: Paperback

Published: 7^th May 2013

Number of Pages: 480

Book: For Review*

Genre: Psychological Suspense, Thriller Suspense, Contemporary, Realistic-Fiction, Science-Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, YA, YA-Adult Crossover

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Site: Rick Yancey

Series' Site: The 5th Wave

The 1^st Wave

Took out half a million people.

The 2^nd Wave

Put that number to shame.

The 3^rd Wave

Lasted a little longer, twelve weeks…  Four billion dead.

In the 4^th Wave

You can’t trust that people are still people.

And the 5^th Wave?

No one knows.

But it’s coming.

On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs.  Runs from beings that only look human, who have scattered Earth’s last survivors.

To stay alone is to stay alive, until she meets Evan Walker.  Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope.

Now Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death.

                                                                   Review:

It’s taken me forever to get this review done, in no small part because I loved The 5^th Wave so much I couldn’t find the words…  Also, once I found them, there were just too many words!  I rambled – a lot.  I’ve done my best to cut back…  I don’t think I was overly successful…  Enjoy the gushing!

"1st Wave: lights out.  2nd Wave: surf's up.  3rd Wave: pestilence.  4th Wave: Silencer.  What's next, Evan?  What is the 5th Wave?"

The 1st Wave killed all electrical items – everything run by a battery or electricity or an engine.  Everything.

The 2nd Wave created huge tsunamis that destroyed all cities near the sea.  Goodbye London, New York, Sydney...

The 3rd Wave created the Red Death, the Blood Plague, the Fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  It killed almost four billion people...  

The Fourth Wave created the Silencers – things that look like humans, act like humans, until you get too close.  Then, they kill you.  The 4th Wave isolated the survivors – made sure they couldn't trust anyone.

The 5th Wave?  Well, no one knows.  It hasn't happened yet.  But it will.  The Others want the humans dead.  They want Earth.  And they won't stop until they get it...

Cassie is a survivor.  She is alone, on the run, trying to avoid Drones and Silencers.  To do that, she needs to be alone.  The only way to stay alive is to stay alone.

But then she meets Evan Walker.  And he might be her only way of staying alive and finding the one thing she needs more than anything...

Meanwhile, a resistance is assembling.  But are their aims true – and if they are, how can they alone possibly defeat the Others – the ones who killed seven billion in the blink of an eye...?

The 5^th Wave’s prologue drew me in completely and I just was hooked from the word go!   Right from the start, I loved it and knew that it would be my favourite alien-dystopian-sci-fi this year - maybe even ever!   I mean, I'm a huge alien-apocalypse fan.  Heck, I was watching Prometheus and Independence Day earlier this week, the latter while reading this book.  And while Independence Day is a truly brilliant film, all I kept thinking was: ‘Bleh.  Shut up, silly movie aliens, and let me go back to The 5^th Wave.’  And that right there is how I know The 5^th Wave should be seen as the best freaking alien dystopia out there right now.  

But now onto one of my favourite bits of the book (other than the alien stuff).  And that was Cassie.  She was brilliant – hard and vulnerable, kickass and broken.  And so so funny!  She was such an awesome character!

And Evan... oh, I just instantly fell for him!   He was just so... yum.  So perfect.  And I swear, it's just impossible not to love him.  Evan Walker has now been added to my list of book boyfriends...  But am I the only one who suspected, like right from the beginning…?  

Other characters: loved Zombie.  Loved Sammy.  Loved… in fact, all the characters were brilliant, be they human or alien.   They all felt very real, be they human, Other, or something… else...  They had the best and worst traits of humanity, both the strengths and weaknesses.

And the romance was brilliant.  Not too fast, not too slow.  Not too much, not too little.  Just perfection – making me one very happy little blogger!

I also loved the writing - Cassie's voice in particular.  She sounded completely real and like any other teen girl - horrible world and all aside.  But I just loved her sense of humour - it was kinda twisted and dark and wry, but it often made me smile.  I love a girl who can joke in the face of death. 

I also loved the split perspectives in this book.  It did confuse me to begin with but I soon fell even harder in love.  I love split POVs – they are my favourite style of writing.  And we had so, so many scrummy perspectives to gobble up, ranging from Cassie and Evan, little Sammy and even a Silencer.  Each of the chapters had a kind of distinct feel to them: amazing!  

And, oh, how completely hooking the plot was!  It was a mile a minute.  Just non-stop action, suspense and twists.  I loved zooming through it all!

I also really liked that despite the sci-fi setting there were still so many real issues involved - humanity, what's important, trust, love, family, strength.  And the world was really amazing!  It was like I was right there with Cassie – so terrifying!  And I loved his take on the alien genre - these were clever aliens, not the stupid kind that launch a human war.  As Stephen Hawking said...

“If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."

Oh, and I loved that Yancey's main character was a girl.  I hate it when authors feel they need to stick to their own gender – this is an all-audiences book.  It has something for everyone and is so un-stereotypical and fresh it's untrue.  Yay to Yancey for ignoring stupid gender norms!

The 5^th Wave is insanely fun and addictive and exciting and I loved it to pieces.  And I must say, there was something truly masterful about the way Yancey linked all the stories together, making me doubt everything I thought I knew about a million times over and surprising me even more often.  It was so much fun and was such an easy and quick read – one you're going to want to read in a single sitting, food, work and sleep be damned, so be prepared to take a large chunk from your day to devour this book!  

Oh, and be prepared for the insane desperation for book two, the very second you put thus one down. It's all consuming, maddening, and yet The 5th Wave is so worth it.

Still.  Don't say I didn't warn you...

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

 Earthfall by Mark Walden

Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore

Billi SanGreal by Sarwat Chadda

Falling Skies

V

Revolution

The Walking Dead

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from Penguin in exchange for an honest review

Locked by Eva Morgan

Series: Locked, Book One

Publisher: Self

Format: Kindle

Published: 10^th February 2014

Number of Pages: 219

Book: Sent For Review*

Genre: Romance, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Action-Adventure, Re-Telling, YA, NA

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Alcohol, Drug and Sexual References

Available On: Amazon, Barnes&Noble

Author's Blog: Eva Morgan

WARNING: This review will be an excited rambling of a fangirl. 

You have been warned…

Eighteen-year-old Irene Adler hasn’t cared much for living since her sister died. 

Until Sherlock Holmes moves in next door.

Sherlock is a conceited, sharp-cheekboned nightmare—and Irene’s first real friend in ages. Within a day, he’s partnered with her to solve their school's mysteries. Within a week, he’s saved her life in more ways than one. 

Within a month, the whole school thinks he's a murderer.

When Sherlock is found alone with a dead girl, he and Irene must crack the case under a hailstorm of hate—before the killer comes after the genius who gave Irene her life back. 

This is a modern-day reimagination of the Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle. 

                                                                   Review:

“Great.  Apparently it's my fate to be frequently alone with Sherlock Holmes.  Fate has it out for me…”

Ever since Irene Adler’s sister died, she’s been just going through the motions.  Going to school, going home, and at night, sneaking out to solve problems for her fellow students under the alias Ares.

And then Sherlock Holmes moves into the house next to hers.

Sherlock is… different.  Ok, he’s a know-it-all, obnoxious, socially-impaired lunatic who gets bored far too easily and gets into fights far too often (though, really, what does he expect when he goes around pointing out everyone’s secrets and talking smack about their mothers?). 

He’s also Irene’s first friend since her sister died.

Before long, he’s become her partner in crime – or, more truthfully, partner is solving crimes. 

He also saves her.  He makes her feel alive again, makes her care again, deeply.  He protects her.

But then Sherlock is found standing over the body of a classmate – a classmate who hurt Irene.  The whole school is certain he’s the killer.

Now, it’s Irene’s turn to protect Sherlock, all the while trying to solve the case – before the killer comes back to take it all away, to take away the boy who saved her…

Team Sherlock Edit!  TheBookAddictedFanGirl at work! ;)

I am a major Sherlock Holmes addict.  So much so that I really ought to go to SA (Sherlockaholist Anonymous) meetings – Hello, my name is Megan and I am a Sherlockaholic – I am Sherlocked.  Seriously though, I've read the books, watched loads of the movies (old and the new ones with Robert Downey Jr – those are my favourites!) and, of course, watched Sherlock and even Elementary (it's my between-Sherlock-series hit).  Therefore, when Eva Morgan offered this book to me, I jumped on the chance to review it.  And, even though I had two books for my English Lit that really needed reading, I couldn't resist opening Locked up on my Kindle.  And damn if I wasn't hooked from that very first chapter!  So hooked, in fact, that I was still reading well into the wee hours.  I think it was like five am when I finally finished the book – in one sitting, I might add – and finally managed to calm myself down enough to get some sleep.  Ok, I didn’t calm down.  I was still crying.  I just kinda passed out.  And my brain was still totally Locked-obsessed when I woke up.  Yup, guys.  Seriously that freaking good.

Ok, I’m gonna start with my favourite thing about this book: Sherlock... I've always adored how utterly terrible he is at social interactions.  He's a freaking genius, but he's also an utter sociopath – especially in Sherlock, much of which I believe this book is based on.  And Locked brought me my favourite version of Sherlock Holmes in a teenager's body, with a teenager's attitude and Sherlock's terrifying intelligence.  The combination was brilliant, hilarious and utterly hot.  He was also so broken and vulnerable, in his own obnoxious way.  And he has been added to my list of Top Five Book Boyfriends.  Yup, he's made Top Five.  I've always loved Sherlock's various incarnations but Eva's?  The best by far.   I mean, how can one read this quote and not totally fall in love with Sherlock:

“How much longer will this last?

“Estimate: Not long.  Days at most.  Something will happen to break through her loyalty.  I'll do something to ruin it.

“I always do something.”

I loved Irene too – how she could hold her own against Sherlock's insanity, her sense of humour.  She was a brilliant foil to his mildly-crazy ways, but she was a great character in her own rights and I loved her.

But I've got to say, what really made the book was the relationship between the two of them.  They had this connection, this bond, that was hilarious, beautiful, insane, touching and impossible to resist.  I loved the two of them together, even more than I loved them apart.

And this book... Sherlock... it totally broke my heart.  I mean, seriously.  I was an absolute bloody wreck by the end, sobbing my eyes out.  I'm not kidding.  I was literally pleading with the book for I don't even know how many pages: 'Please, no.  Please...  Just no, please...'  I may have forced myself back awake at 5am to finish it.  I couldn't leave it where I left it.  So thank you, Eva, for completely wrecking me!  I’m crossing literally everything hoping that there’s a second book – and soon!

Oh, the writing was amazing as well.  Most of it was written by Irene, but there were these little bits, these notes, that were written by Sherlock.  Sometimes his notes were funny, sometimes confusing and sometimes they were heartbreaking.  I really loved Sherlock’s bits – but Irene was an amazing narrator.  I’m just a bit Sherlocked – especially on Locked’s Sherlock.  Sorry: I’m totally biased!

So if you haven’t gathered, I adored Locked.  I only rarely get the time to read self-published books now, but I am so glad I made time for Locked.  It’s actually one of the best things I’ve read this year – and I want all Sherlock fans to go buy it!  Even if this is, kind of selfishly, because I want a sequel really really soon!

So Sherlock fans: go, read Locked.  Come back and gush.  I swear to God, you will not be disappointed.  There are just… no words for how good this book was and no end to how much I could gush over it.  I just loved it so much!  And I need a sequel – please Eva!

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5 

Read this book if you liked:

Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Empty Coffins Series by Gregg Olsen

Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Sherlock

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Playing With Fire by Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book One

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Paperback

Published: 1^st September 2008

Number of Pages: 378

Book: Bought

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Comedy, Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Children's, YA, Children's-YA Crossover

Recommended Age: 9+

Contains: Violence (Lots of It - and It's Freaking Awesome), Death, Mild Swearing

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Blog: Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress

Skulduggery Pleasant Site: Skulduggery Pleasant

WARNING: COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS... AND A LOT OF FANGIRLING.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...

You know how it is – you think you’ve saved the world, and then ANOTHER evil villain turns up with an unbeatable monster and starts breaking things.

Oh yes, and you’ve got a skull for a head.  A thirteen-year-old girl for a sidekick.  And no clue what to do…

                                                                   Review:

"How about on the Evil Villain Scale?  Ten being Serpine, one being Scapegrace?"

"The Baron, unfortunately, turns it all the way up to eleven."

"Seriously?  Because, you know , that's one more evil."

"It is indeed."

"So we're in trouble then?"

"Oh, yes...”

Stephanie Edgley is now Valkyrie Cain - sorcerer-in-training, detective and partner to Skulduggery Pleasant, a magic, talking, living skeleton.

They saved the world not long ago, you know.  From this crazy guy who wanted to bring back the horrible, human-hating, homicidal gods known as the Faceless Ones.

They like literally just saved the world.

Of course, it didn't stay that way for long.  

Now there's a new crazy guy who wants to bring back the Faceless Ones.  And also this horrid monster-hybrid thing known as the Grotesquery - and yes, as gross as the name and equally killer-crazy and legendary-monster-like.  There's also a whole lot of vampires.  And, like, a lot of dead bodies.  And also a lot of people trying to kill Valkyrie.

You know how it is.  Just another day at the office when your mentor is a skeleton and your best friend is a magic-wielding, high-kicking sorcerer called Tanith.

Well.  Until people slightly closer to home start getting all murdery...

Ohh, how I love this series.  It is honest-to-God one of the bestest series out there ever.  Like, ever ever ever.  I forget how much I love it sometimes.  And I forget to tell everyone in the whole entire world to read it right freaking now.  It's so so so much fun and so so so funny and exciting and awesome and...  Ok, and now I'm rambling...  Um, fangirling over...  Onto the review, please, Megan...

I'll start with the characters.  Why?  Because I love 'em all to death.  Literally.  Kind of is literally, in Skulduggery's case, what with him being a skeleton and all.  But seriously, love 'em.  Skulduggery is, of course, my very favourite.  He's so funny and snarky and witty and just never fails to make me laugh.  I just adore his witty comments during a fight, his way of never shutting up and always managing to make the enemy even angrier.  He always (normally) wins of course, because he is amazing and brilliant and a genius and... well, he knows when to run like hell! 

But I felt that Stephanie really came into her own in this one - really and truly became Valkyrie Cain.  She was usin' magic, fightin' the bad guys, throwin' fireballs, gettin' almost killed and kidnapped and karate chopped... Ok, not that last one.  This book has made my mind go all silly I love it so much.  The point is, ol' Valkyrie is now totally kickbutt, funny, snarky and awesome.  Yay!

And I love Tanith too - she's awesome.  Like, seriously.  Awesome.  Love her.  Especially love her, for lack of a better word, catchphrase: "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough".  Ha, hilarious!  And Kenspeckle is brilliant as well.  That weird dude who I'm pretty sure was stoned was funny too - Finbar, I believe he was called.  Finbar Wrong.  Did I mention these guys have like the best names ever?  As for the bad guys... Well.   Very very very bad.  And quite scary.  And really crazy.  

But I think that my very favourite bit about the characters is the relationships and interactions - more specifically, the banter between Valkyrie and Skulduggery: it is hilarious.  Like, fall-off-your-chair hilarious.  I can never read this book without grinning.  It is physically impossible.  Even during the exciting, full-of-suspense fight scenes, old Skulduggery never fails to make me grin.   Love it.  

And man are the action scenes awesome!  I love all the fighting, the battles, the twists and turns.  It's just so much fun!  It's like one non-stop adrenaline ride.  Like a roller coaster that's going super super fast, loop-the-looping, corkscrewing, spiralling...  Like being on the Enterprise when it goes into warp.  Um, I am such a nerd.  But still, it's a ride you never want to end, a ride you can't put down, and a ride you instantly wanna jump back on the second you finish.  It is totally addictive, totally exciting and totally awesome.  And, if you haven't guessed, I loved Playing With Fire's plotline.  And I'm picking up The Faceless Ones even as I type this up.

But onto writing: love it!  I cannot even tell you how funny Derek Landy is.  He is a comedy genius.  And he's also an action genius, writing the best fight scenes ever.  But seriously.  Please read one of these books and then you'll get why I gush so much about everything Landy does.  And why I am 100% certain that he is a total freaking genius.  

Actually he is undoubtedly a total genius.  And the Skulduggery Pleasant books are absolute legends.  They are new classics for children.  Each and every one of them has that magic you remember from childhood, no matter how many times you reread them or what your age is.  It just... sparkles.  Every single word, every single page, every single character glitters and just whispers 'read me', like a Siren call.  Irresistible.  Addictive.  Enough to get any reluctant reader hooked.

Now.  Onto The Faceless Ones...

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

  

Read this book if you liked:

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

                                                                                     

Happy Reading

Megan