***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Last year, one of my favorite series--Mythos Academy-- came to an end. I, like many other fans was left feeling lost because I had fallen in love with the characters and wasn't ready to let go (but when are you ever ready?). So when I found out the author had a new series coming out (why I didn’t find out about it right away is beyond me), I was over the moon.  I was doing the monkey and prancing around, ready to dive into a new world. I, not for a second, doubted how much this book would please me and I am so glad I wasn’t let down.

If you’re a fan of the Mythos Academy series, it’s already a given that you gotta read this series, but for the rest of you, who make excuses and put the series off, or have never heard of it, I shall do my best to capture the geniussness of Jennifer Estep in my review.

For starters, her main characters are ALWAYS awesome. Lila is the very definition of badass but she also happens to be super clever and can take care of herself. She has issues because of her past and what she has had to live through, and is perhaps not the most open person, but given her circumstances it’s hard to blame her. Besides, she thinks things through and it’s hard not to cheer for her. I just love and admire her so much because her character is so interesting and complex. She has been living on her own too long to just succumb to the temptations of comfort so while some of her thinking process will frustrate you, it’s  also kind of nice knowing she isn’t ready to forget everything and throw caution to the air. It’s what I love about Lila.

Like all Estep books (including her adult series), this one comes with a fantastic entourage of secondary characters. From Claudia to Deah, they are all interesting and make you want to know more about them. They may seem very flat at first but when you learn more about them, you start to realize there is more to them then their face value. They are more complex and intricate than that. Unsurprisingly, I have a favorite and it happens to be Mo. I just really like Mo, okay? He has his faults but his greed for money and his awesome haggling skills just sold him as a character. Felix may be a highlight for others though with his adorable cockiness and horrifying flirting skills.

One of my other favorites, unsurprisingly, was the love interest-- Devon. He is such a sweetheart. Devon may have his own problems to deal with but he never lets them affect how he deals with the people around him and I adore that about him. I have to say, I am not as sold on him as I was on Logan (from Mythos Academy) but interesting things have happened and it’s suffice to say, I am DEFINITELY looking forward to being reunited with him in Dark Heart of Magic. 

I will say for those wondering about the romance, hold your horses, it’s much too early for us to expect much and do much besides ship the freaking heck out of the two.

Estep’s books, whatever faults they may have, will never leave you feeling bored (although maybe they will… I hope they won’t?). They are always so fast paced and get things moving. Estep just knows what she is doing. It’s an oh-so-sweet building of tension to the moment of climax where SHIT GOES DOWN. And given that it’s Estep, there will be action, mystery and intrigue. I will say that the mystery will never be unpredictable, but who cares if it is fantastically executed.

Suffice to say, I am 100% sold on this series and LOVE the new world that Estep has built. It is definitely set aside from the world of Mythos Academy in many ways (even if there are a couple similarities). We get mafia families, magical talents and monstrous creatures, all brought to life in an interesting way.

I am ready to dive into the sequel and can it just be October already? MY BODY IS READY FOR MORE. So while I suffer, you may or may not want to check out this awesomeness and devour it the same way I did.

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

This is the first adult book by Sarah Fine. I repeat. IT’S THE FIRST ADULT BOOK BY SARAH FINE. When I first heard about it, all I could think of was how much I wanted to read it and about how awesome I thought it would be and I wasn’t let down. But then again, it IS Sarah Fine. When has she ever really let me down?

What first drew me to the book, aside from it being written by Sarah Fine, was the concept. The blurb doesn't give you much of a look into the world this book is set in but it's definitely original. It’s not that no one has ever written a book about death or afterlife, hell, Sarah Fine’s YA series deals with those things too, but this book, or I should say this series, has a take on it that I personally haven’t read about. The basis of this world is in myth but at the same time, this book is also set in the future.

They live in a world where the rich people are the only lucky ones. Everyone else doesn’t even have full time running water. Chocolate is so rare that even it’s substitute, Mockolate, is way too expensive (this is your cue to gasp chocolate lovers). The waters are disease ridden and people don’t have much prevention against diseases. Eli’s sister, Galena, is looking to change that. She wants to invent a way for vaccines to mutate along with the diseases they are supposes to prevent.It would decrease the death rates by a third, but it would also become a huge drawback in the business of death, the business the Kers and the Ferrys deal in.

This book however, doesn’t dwell too much into that, we are instead introduced into the world, like we would be at the beginning of any series. Fine helps us settle into this world she has created so that when we get around to reading the following books, we can be submerged into the world with more ease.

This book, is more about the characters, Eli and Cacy.They are both formidable characters to say the least. On their own, they are strong, a little bullheaded but ready to do what they can for the ones’ they love but together, they are a team, they are in sync and are always there for each other to fall back on. Isn’t that beautiful?

Like a lot of Fine’s romances, this one definitely has the insta-vibes to it but Fine always crafts her romances wonderfully and we get to see how these two work together as as a team. We see how they make each other better people. They may be a little afraid to lean on one another but that’s part of the process. They have feelings for one another but they need to learn to trust one another. It is a wonderful journey. The deep stuff said, this book is HAWT. With capitals. If you’ve read her YA books and remember how well she writes sexual tension, I am sure you'll have a vague idea as to just how hawt this book will get.

The main characters aside, we also  have an entourage of wonderful secondary ones, my personal favorite being Moros ;) (please keep your hands off).  They are developed but our main characters remain in the spotlight. I like that none of the characters are just there though. They all serve a purpose and all play an intricate part in what is going to happen in the future books aside from the fact that they will star in them.

This book also has a tendency to keep you on your toes. There is plenty of action and Sarah knows just how to punch you in the feels (if you don’t believe me ask Nick… she had to deal with some of the aftermath.. no one heard the weird noises I was making though). None of what she does every feels unnecessary though. Things happen, but it all serves a larger plot line. Nothing can ever be perfect can it? You cannot gain one thing without losing the other and such is life.

I have to say though, I was a little surprised by the twist. I am not sure if it was the fact that I purposefully chose to blind myself to the possibility but I was taken off guard by the identity of the traitor. I didn’t even have a specific person in mind but I was surprised that it turned out to be that person.

On the whole, this is a book I’d recommend to everyone who likes a good romance but also likes it when there is something interesting happening that isn’t in the background.

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I’d like to start off by saying that if you’re interested in this book because you loved Forbidden you might want to give it a pass. I don’t actually say this with any authority since I haven’t actually read the book but from the reviews I’ve read, I’d imagine that this book is nowhere near the same level as Forbidden. 

That said, I adored the book. It wasn’t mind blowing, it wasn’t AMAHZING but at the same time, it was an emotional read and it kept me up for a couple minutes. You might imagine that is not a lot but I am usually someone who’d rather daydream before going to bed so the fact that I kept on coming back to this book was a big deal for me.

The characters are what take the cake in this book. The author makes them realistically flawed but at the same time they aren’t horrible people. They are lovable even if you want to shake them from time to time.

There is a good chance Jackie will bother you but she didn’t bother me. I loved that she wasn’t all, ‘we love each other, let’s do this’. She had doubts. She knows her relationship with her cousin isn’t going to be viewed the way she wished it could be viewed. The way society feels affects her. She doesn’t want to be the one that sticks out like a sore thumb because of who she loves. As a result, she ends up not realizing the extent of her feelings for Marcus and ends up pushing him away. I love that she actually realizes how silly she is being in a lot of the cases. That’s what makes her a likeable character. This is a self-discovery process and it takes her a while to realize what it is she wants and it takes her even longer to actually do something about it but then again, no one said that change would happen in a day.

Marcus is just as wonderful. He is a perpetually sweet guy but at the same time, he is tired of not being sure how Jackie feels about him and when they call the quits, he is a jerk. We know that he loves her but at the same time; he does immature things because he is heartbroken. Maybe subconsciously, he does want to hurt her, the same way she hurt him. It did make me want to shake him but considering the kind of guy he is, it made sense that he would lash out this way.

My favorite secondary character was hands down Will.The author could have easily made him into the douchy guy that would make the female lead realize how much she loved Marcus but the author didn’t do that. Instead she let Will be a genuinely nice guy, appearances aside. She let the two be friends and she let Will be the friend she really needed at that point of time.

All these wonderful things said; I am not so sure how I feel about the romance. It’s emotional and angsty and amazing but at the same time, I was discomforted by it. It was that odd mix of where I was cheering for them but at the same time, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with their relationship. In this case though, I don’t think it would entirely be possible to write a romance that would be a 100% comfortable.

The mystery was definitely a nice addition to the story but don’t go into this book thinking it’s going to be a mystery. It’s not. It’s still primarily a contemporary romance.

That isn’t to say that the mystery wasn’t good, the little there was. It just wasn’t as well developed as it could have been considering how well the author lay the foundations.

I wish I could talk about the ending but me saying anything would give away what happens and I think it’s for you to find out what becomes of the two and whether they get the HEA they want or if they end up going their separate ways.

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an intense, emotional, contemporary romance to read.

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

This book can be easily surmised as fun. Admittedly though, I am a tad disappointed after having my mind blown byThe Lost earlier this year. This book doesn’t even begin to compare on the level The Lost sets but considering the two books actually aren’t that similar, I don’t think it would be fair to compare them.

The major selling point of this book is adventure, it’s why it’s so fun. I mean these kids are trying to find magical stones that will grant the person who has them invincibility. Who doesn’t want to be invincible (certainly not me)? There is also a bit of myth/ancient history involved which makes it all the more exciting, for me at least.

Kayla is a great main character. I love that she is willing to go so far to take care of her family but at the same time, what kept on bothering me was that she was just a teenager. She had powers yes, but she was inexperienced in using them and she really should have confided at least a little bit in her mother. No matter how good the intentions, it’s never good to keep a secret of that magnitude.  That said, her loyalty wasn’t a bad quality, I loved that in spite of everything, she recognized that her mother was not the bad guy here. That her mother always wanted what was best for her even if what she thought was best did not line up with Kayla’s ideas about what was best for herself.

In fact, I loved that there were actually good flawed parental figures in this book. There were bad ones, but they were counteracted by the good ones; the parents who in spite of their not so good actions, were never portrayed as evil or even as plain old bad since their children realized that they were not in fact the enemy.

I also loved Selena. I loved how she was not the perfect best friend and actually had issues of her own. She may have been confident but she was also insecure about certain things and did actually need to stand up for herself.

Daniel was also just as fun to read about. I loved that the fact that he was hot wasn’t particularly emphasized. It was in the beginning but as Kayla got to know him better, the emphasis was less on his beauty and more on the fact that he was actually a great guy. What I liked most about him though was his determination to get his mother back; at the same time though it was one of his worst characteristics considering it led him to lying and what have you.

The romance is one of the things that did not work for me though. I expected more considering that the two actually complemented one another but before the relationship had even had any real time to progress, they had already fallen in love and I just ended up being disappointed.

The plot also ended up falling apart when things became rushed towards the end and everything ended up being wrapped up neatly in a bow. It’s one of the reasons why I was so disappointed in this book. It started off beautifully and I was so excited to see where it would all go and how things would turn out but it just didn’t go as well as I had hoped. There wasn’t enough focus on the ancient history/myth for my taste and I wish we actually found out more about the past then just the brief mentions we got. All of this could have linked to something so full of awesomeness yet that wasn’t the case and that made me sad.

I felt like there was a lot of potential in the world building itself too but the fact that it wasn’t explored as much as possible didn’t bother me as much as the fact that the plot ended up not being as awesome as it could have been.

On top of that, I hated how some things wrapped up. As I mentioned before, I felt like the ending was too neat and that there were just some knots that could have been tied a whole lot better than they were.

With all my disappointment expressed, I have to say, this is definitely a book I’d recommend to anyone who just needs something to read. It’s fun and adventurous and while it’s far from perfect, you’ll still have a good time. I know I did.

I think the most important thing for everyone to know is that this isn’t a book for everyone. Some people will hate it and get so disgusted that they’ll have to give up and other people are going to love this. I know I did. Of course, had I not known a certain tid bit before, I probably wouldn’t have.

Before going into this book, you need to know that there is an awkward love triangle and one of the relationships in this love triangle is unhealthy and abusive. It’s not meant to be romantic though and that’s what you need to know. You need to know that this disgusting relationship isn’t being romanticized. In fact it’s the exact opposite. You’re meant to hate it with every fiber of your being.

Let’s start at the beginning thought. Let’s start with Nalia. Nalia is an amazingly strong female lead and you feel for her. Sold off in the slave trade when just 15, with her entire race dead and the only surviving member of her family, her brother, sent to work camp, you feel for her. She does not have it easy. Especially given that she has a crazy captor.

Malek is cruel yet on top of that all, he is also very emotionally manipulative. Nalia, having been mistreated for so long, living only on the hope of seeing her brother and freeing him, is immediately drawn by his ‘gentle’ side and falls for his lies. I say lies because no matter how much he claims to love her, he will never see her as anything but a possession.

It will break your heart to see her go through all these ordeals and when Raif comes into the picture, you cheer, you cheer like crazy and hope for Nalia to snap out of it and realize how unhealthy her relationship with Malek is. It’s beautiful to watch her go through that character development.

Raif is a wonderful character AND a love interest. What I love about him is that in spite of everything, he does put his faith in Nalia, he chooses to trust her. It isn’t that he isn’t vary of her, heck yeah he is but seeing that he needs her help, he, in the end, chooses to trust her instead of making the whole thing some awkward dance.

It’s why their romance is so beautifully developed. It starts with variness of one another and leads to trust. It may be a tad fast paced but it’s still no less wonderful. Romance based on trust rocks doesn’t it?

The world building in this book is amazing. Heather does NOT hold back on us. She uses her gorgeous prose to paint beautiful pictures of Arjinna. That isn’t it though, she makes this world come to life by creating different races of jinnis thereby giving the book her own original twist and she also throws in a fun language.

The plot was amazing. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, on the tip of your toes and you kind of just fly through the book.  I mean it’s a big book but I was surprised by how quickly I got through it. The stakes are quite high in the book which really does amp up the anticipation levels. 

I am definitely looking forward to where things will go with the sequel and I only hope that Raif and Nalia’s relationship improves.

I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for something a little more original in Paranormal YA and won’t mind feeling some discomfort in the search of a good book.