Layla had a hard time in finding herself. Layla’s constant friend is Justice.There is a crazed ancient who is a  power obsessed being living inside Layla which didn’t make it easy on her. Layla had lost Max and she assumed the darkness had taken him. There is a poison going through Max’s veins and he is trying to fight it as he doesn’t want to become a demon God.  Max now lives in the Formore castle knowing he and Layla would have to face off.

I didn’t really enjoy this but i need to read the other two stories first. What I read wasn’t bad but I won’t rate it as I want to read the other books of the series then retry this one.

I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

I requested this book and got it through Xpresso Book Tour, thank you!

Primordial Principles #1 
Published by: Booktrope Publishing
Publication date: October 25th 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Kadence Sparrow wasn’t born a devil’s child—she was turned into one. Now, she’s hiding from the truth, and running for her life.

For years, Kade’s true nature has lurked behind an illusion, so when her dad gets another job transfer, she knows the drill: no close friends, no boyfriends, and most importantly: don’t expose what she is. Ever. Keeping secrets is easy. Lies are second nature. So is the loneliness—and the fear, but when the Shadows attack, and Kade meets Cole Spires, she could expose everything she’s trying to hide.

As one of the Celestial Children, Cole lives by an oath: defend the Ward, protect the Primordial race, guard the gateways, and stick to his own. Everything else is a distraction, and besides, he’s lost enough. Cole’s job is clear, and no one his age does it better. So, when he meets Kade in a club downtown, he assumes she just wants his attention. Most girls do, but Cole soon realizes … Kade isn’t like most girls.

The children of heaven and hell are living among us, fighting an age-old war. And falling for someone from the opposition is not an option. But a chance encounter between Kade and Cole will blur the rules, as Kade’s journey to keep her truth hidden catapults them together and into a web of lies, forcing her to not only face the demon inside her, but to answer the hardest question of all.

Which is thicker—blood or water?

My opinion

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book, I thought I could enjoy it. It turned out to be really enjoyable!

The author's writing was really what kept my interest throughout the book. I liked the fact that she only gave small bits of information, you have to wait until the end of the book to truly understand what is going on. At first, I was a bit lost because of that, I did not understand the "magical" system, I could not understand what the people were and it was a bit complicated to follow. But that's what makes me want to read further! 

The story line was nothing new, it contained all the tropes you can find in any other YA/ urban fantasy novel. But still, the book was really interesting and had some unique details. I was not expecting this plot twist at all. It was really nice to understand it at the same time as the other characters, Kadence knew it from the beginning but as you do not have access to her thoughts, you could not know it. That was really surprising and I liked that a lot. 

I did not really care for the characters though, I could not relate to any of them. I did not really like Kadence but I did not hate her either. I thought she was really realistic (apart from the fact that she was way too clumsy, oh and of course that she had some super abilities), I felt like she could be a normal teenager with typical problems. The fact that she did not have any friends makes her really insecure (it does not help that she is a kind of monster...) but she turned out to be someone really special.  Cole was really, really likable. 

The world the author created is really mysterious and fantastic! I want to learn more about the Primori, the Primeva, the Shadows etc. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series (and the cover is gorgeous!!)

Thanks for reading,

Line.

Kadence Sparrow has just moved. Again. At least Boulder should be her last stop for a bit. With her father's admonitions about not revealing her true self to anyone ringing in her ears, Kade starts her senior year of HS. But her new friends are making that difficult.

Author Laney McMann starts her newest book series with a bang. Crystallum brings a new twist to the eternal struggle between heaven and hell.

The main characters are your usual HS stereotypes; the new girl, the bad/misunderstood boy, the clique of girls the new girl falls into. The characters had some twists made to them though, which made the story much more enjoyable. The pacing was great, several twists and turns kept the pages turning, and a few scenes caused some laughter. 

I quite enjoyed this book, and am very much looking forward to the next book in the series. I will also pick up Ms. McMann's other trilogy, the Fire Born novels. In the interest of full disclosure, I did receive an ARC of this book for a review.

 No. Just...no. You ever haul ass through a book in less than 24 hours just so you can be done with it and move on with your life and precious spare time? Yeah. That just happened. It's a real bummer to considering how excited I was to start this book. I'm sorry but if I had to sum this book up in one word it would be disjointed. Everything took WAY too long to come together and even attempt to start making sense, and quite honestly if you have to wait until the last pages to have things start coming together, something isn't right. I had exactly 5% interest in this story by then, sorry.

    The characters were just as muddled as the plot. I had no investment in Layla, the MC, whatsoever. She was so annoying throughout the entirety of this book, at least that held true through and through...I guess.

Seriously, she was rude to everyone that cared about her, she whined ALL THE TIME, and she was just so naïve! I'm not sure there was a character that I enjoyed, maybe the Grandmother, who was in the story for about 2 minutes. Yeah, she seemed okay.

I couldn't even consider Max as a character I might have liked for the simple fact that he found enough things about Layla to actually love. What the hell? Where were these redeemable qualities? Is there some kind of decoder ring and secret text I wasn't aware of?!

    Onwards to the plot.....or the severe lack of one in my opinion. I get that Layla was being kept ignorant of pretty much everything, for her safety or whatevs, but no way does that make it acceptable, or any way enjoyable, for the reader to be forced to be content with absolutely nothing cohesive until the very end. 70% of this book was Layla whining about not knowing anything, which I almost want to sympathize with since I felt kind of the same whilst reading this. Through in there some weird events happening, but them being so short and clipped that you, much like the MC herself, couldn't even be sure that they actually happened!!

    Ok so I did bump this up to 1.5 stars for the fact that at the very end, once things started actually happening, they really exploded. There were a lot of good ideas there, but the execution was severely lacking. It was as if, no not as if....you literally got bombarded with an entire universe and all of it's otherworldly inhabitants. I didn't see the world building here, I got knocked upside the head with a world explosion.

 Even though there were some potentially great concepts there, which there were, I was too far removed from everything to have it bring me back. And it was just too much information to take in all at once. The otherworldliness was the highlight of this story, there was some real creativity in there, I wish it would have been at the very least sprinkled throughout the story so I would have had a hope of getting invested and not have been so overwhelmed once it did happen.

 Unfortunately not series I would likely continue on with.

     I received a copy of this book from J. Taylor Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Moonlight Reader started the TBR Thursday, and I think it's a good way to a) show what new books I've got and b) confront myself with my inability to lower my TBR. In fact, since I started recording it, it has risen significantly. I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong here...

I'm looking for a strategy to stop adding books to my TBR. Any suggestions are more than welcome =).

(It would also help if there wouldn't be so many interesting new titles each week; to give us all the time to get back on all those books we've already bought to read some day...)

Some of this week's books have very beautiful covers. Which is your favourite?

Travel Glasses

Calla Winston’s mobile devices sit in a corner of her room, covered in dust. Weeks ago, she shared photos and laughs with her best online friend. Now, after having felt the sting of betrayal, she prefers being hidden and friendless. She equates privacy with security and technology with pain. Then she meets Valcas, an otherworldly time traveler who traverses time and space with a pair of altered sunglasses. When an ethereal being knocks Calla to the ground near her family’s lakeside cottage, Valcas uses the Travel Glasses to help her escape. He offers his further protection in exchange for a promise. Intrigued by Valcas and the possibility of time travel, Calla accepts. That is until she learns that his search for her was no mere coincidence. Calla sets off on her own, taking the Travel Glasses with her. Torn between searching for her estranged father and reuniting with the rest of her family, she tracks down the inventor of the Travel Glasses in hopes of discovering more about Valcas’ past and motivations. The Travel Glasses take Calla’s mistrust of technology to all new levels. But without them, she’ll never make it back home. With Valcas hot on her trail, Calla hopes to find what she’s looking for before he catches up.

The Alchemist's Daughter

“A realistic evocation of 16th century London’s underside. The various strands of the plot are so skillfully plaited together.” —Fiona Buckley In the year 1543 of King Henry VIII’s turbulent reign, the daughter of a notorious alchemist finds herself suspected of cold-blooded murder… Bianca Goddard employs her knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants to concoct remedies for the disease-riddled poor in London’s squalid Southwark slum. But when her friend Jolyn comes to her complaining of severe stomach pains, Bianca’s prescription seems to kill her on the spot. Recovering from her shock, Bianca suspects Jolyn may have been poisoned before coming to her—but the local constable is not so easily convinced. To clear her name and keep her neck free of the gallows, Bianca must apply her knowledge of the healing arts to deduce exactly how her friend was murdered and by whom—before she herself falls victim to a similar fate…

Tied

Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either. Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares. Or is that all in her head? Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken. No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible? The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever—if it doesn’t kill them both first. In TIED, book one in the Fire Born trilogy, learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal of demons, and being with Max will put Layla on a path toward her own destruction. Just how far will Layla go to protect the one she loves? The answer may never be far enough ... away.

Dreamwalker

Seven children. Seven special powers. One enemy. Addy is a typical California surfer girl until her mother dies and she is sent to a strange boarding school in Wales, where one hallway leads not to another part of the school but to another universe. Addy has always had vivid dreams. Now it seems this power to dream has made her the enemy of the powerful ruler of Gallia. How can Addy and her new friends be any match for the powerful Grymur who calls himself The One in a world where nothing makes sense. If you loved Harry Potter, this is for you. By New York Times bestselling author and her daughter.

The Rise of Thomas Cromwell

How much does the Thomas Cromwell of popular novels and television series resemble the real Cromwell? This meticulous study of Cromwell’s early political career expands and revises what has been understood concerning the life and talents of Henry VIII’s chief minister. Michael Everett provides a new and enlightening account of Cromwell’s rise to power, his influence on the king, his role in the Reformation, and his impact on the future of the nation.   Controversially, Everett depicts Cromwell not as the fervent evangelical, Machiavellian politician, or the revolutionary administrator that earlier historians have perceived. Instead he reveals Cromwell as a highly capable and efficient servant of the Crown, rising to power not by masterminding Henry VIII’s split with Rome but rather by dint of exceptional skills as an administrator.

Yesterday's Kin

Aliens have landed in New York. A deadly cloud of spores has already infected and killed the inhabitants of two worlds. Now that plague is heading for Earth, and threatens humans and aliens alike. Can either species be trusted to find the cure?Geneticist Marianne Jenner is immersed in the desperate race to save humanity, yet her family is tearing itself apart. Siblings Elizabeth and Ryan are strident isolationists who agree only that an alien conspiracy is in play. Marianne’s youngest, Noah, is a loner addicted to a drug that constantly changes his identity. But between the four Jenners, the course of human history will be forever altered. Earth’s most elite scientists have ten months to prevent human extinction—and not everyone is willing to wait.

The Ice Twins

In the tradition of The Girl on the Train comes the UK bestseller THE ICE TWINS, a terrifying psychological thriller with a twisting plot worthy of Gillian Flynn. One of Sarah's daughters died. But can she be sure which one? A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity--that she, in fact, is Lydia--their world comes crashing down once again. As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

Material Girls

In Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new “eco-chic” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives?         Smart, provocative, and entertaining, this thrilling page-turner for teens questions the cult like mentality of fame and fashion. Are you in or are you out?

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

The physics-bending charm of The Time Traveler's Wife meets the curious mischief of The Eyre Affair in this debut novel Annabelle Aster doesn't bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more exciting is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds. In this unconventional and enchanting tale, Annie and her new neighbor must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and somehow already did.

The Organ Broker

The Organ Broker is the gripping story of an underground black market organ dealer known as “New York Jack.” For eighteen years Jack has been a “transplant tourism director,” sending wealthy Americans and Europeans in need of kidneys and other organs to third world countries where they would buy them from transplant centers on the take. The death of a client and a newfound relationship lead to a crisis of conscience as he is forced to choose between a two million dollar commission—and participating in a murder. Jack races to South Africa, Brazil, and beyond, just one step ahead of his adversary and the FBI, in search of one small act of redemption.As a disaffected youth in the late eighties, Jack Trayner entered the criminal world, selling coke when he needed money to pay his way through college. Although he later graduated from law school, an opportunity to earn easy money eventually seduced him into the bizarre and illegal black market for organs—a business that some consider horrendous and a small number of others deem to be heroic. The dual nature of this business assuaged Jack’s guilt and allowed him to flourish, yet the death of a client makes what he is doing all too real. The Organ Broker represents Jack’s confession.The international black market sale of organs is very real and operates at this very moment behind closed hospital doors in many cities all around the world. It is a world that most people are only vaguely aware exists, and few of us know much, if anything, about, until now—in the pages of the confession of New York Jack.