The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I just finished this book on my kindle and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. It's rare these days to come across a fairy/vampire book that has a plot that has not been done before and grabs your attention from the get go, The Demon Girl hooked me in from the very beginning and definitely would not let me go.



The story centers around Rae, a girl living in a post Rapture (apocalyptic) world were the Demons (classified as basically anything that is not human) had declared themselves to the general public and then proceed to nearly wipe out the human race off the face of the planet a few hundred years before. In response the humans, lead by a faction of Priests, literally walled themselves up from the outside world in little pockets of land and set up training temples to create the warriors Clerics to defend the human race.



Rae here is a Disciple (Cleric-In-Training) who is a little weird but consider human, until she takes off for her usual early morning jog beyond the Wall. Things take a rapid turn in just 24 hours after she witnesses something the Clerics don't want known as common knowledge and pretty soon she's running for her life. Throw in a fairy-boy, a vampire-boy, 3 magical amulets, Demon politics, the threat of another Rapture and suddenly things are not so clear cut black and white as Rae thought as she faces some difficult decisions.



I'm not saying anything else, as I definitely do not want to ruin the story for you but if you are over the same old fairy or vampire story, this yarn is a breath of fresh air you do not want to miss. The Demon Girl made me giggle, laugh outright and then gasp in shock, thoroughly enjoyable. Cannot wait for the next installments: A Demon Day and Demon Dark.



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Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1), prequel to Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, does not disappointment. And if you're like me and the whole implied "incest" side plot in the first series made you cringe, you can breath a little easier.

Set in the late 1880s London, it is story of Theresa "Tessa" Gray who leaves America after the death of her aunt and follows the promise of a new home with her brother Nate in London. Once in London, Tessa finds not all it what it seems, especially herself, when Nate goes M.I.A and she is abducted by the Dark Sisters. Captured by Warlocks with no hope of rescue and with only her mother's keepsake, a little clockwork angel, to keep her company, Tessa is taught to harness a unique power within her that she never knew existed but to what end?

Meanwhile William "Will" Herondale and James "Jem" Carstairs, Shadowhunters and best friends, are following a trail started by the discovery of a blade with a Ouroboros symbol near a dead girl killed under mysterious circumstances. What they did not expect to find is the threat of a new type of enemy, an army of magical mechanical automatons headed by the mysterious Magister & Tessa at the center of it all.

Ok, the beginning it did drag a little and I was not a big fan of Tessa. I found her naive & overly trusting, so the climax of the book didn't really surprise me. Though towards the end Tessa did seem to grow the beginnings of a back bone, intriguing enough to keep me interested. Will reminds me of Jace from Mortal Instruments, as they both have a similar sense of smart-mouth humour(surprise, surprise)which is pretty entertaining. The budding love triangle between Will-Tessa-Jem is also something that will leave me hanging out to see who will get the girl. Bad-Boy Will with a heart of stone who may not be all that he seems or Jem, a sweet and caring outcast with a heart of gold whose hiding a deadly secret?

Considering I'm not usually a fan of prequels, I was pleasantly surprised with this latest installment in the Shadowhunter world and looking forward to the next book, City of Fallen Angels, when it comes out.



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Book Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Salvation has it's price...

The long awaited 5th book of the highly popular Vampire Academy series didn't disappoint. The 4th book ended with Rose hearing the rumour of a Spirit-user who could turn Strigoi back into the Dhampirs or Moroi they once were, raising her hopes of saving the soul of her beloved Dimitri.

Right from the beginning shadowkissed/wise-cracking Rose has a few issues to face. Not only does Rose have to figure out how the Spirit-user turned Strigoi back and pass her final Guardian exams but she has also has major boy problems.

On one side Rose has Adrian, a totally hot moroi Spirit-user/Dreamwalker who absolutely adores her & who is also willing to put aside his bad habits to make her happy; but his aunt is the Queen of the moroi who has made her disapproval of Rose very clear & has the power to assign her to a desk job instead being Guardian of Lissa.

On the other side is Dimitri, her gorgeous ex-instructor/ex-lover turned Strigoi who sends her creepy love letters every week. Dimitri has made it very clear that if he can't have Rose as his Strigoi partner for eternity he'll make sure that no else will have her.

Rose isn't the only one with boy problems. Lissa and Christian are still loggerheads since the last book. Christian still can't forgive Lissa for her out of control behavior and things she said/did under influence of Avery. Lissa is still battles her demons/depressions that is a result of using her Spirit power, which isn't helped by the fact she goes green with envy when she notices Christian in the company of other female moroi.

I don't want to ruin the story but there is a lot that happens in this book and you definitely won't see the end coming.

I can't wait for the release for the sixth and final Vampire Academy book... Last Sacrifice.

Pages: 489 pages


Other Books in the Series: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss & Blood Promise.

Book Review: Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Yes, I know, another Vampire Book. I couldn't help it. When I saw this in the book store I was intrigued by the story... but apart from what it could have been, the author of this book has all but butchered it's possibilities.

The main character is called Rae Seddon (a.k.a Sunshine) who, needing to get away from her life for a little, decides to take a break by driving to the local lake for a respite. Before she knows it she is kidnapped by a gang of vampires who makes her strip, put on a red dress & shackles her to a wall in an abandoned mansion. Did I forget to mention that also shackled in the same room is another vampire who has been starved for a very, very long time? Interesting development, no?

Now Robin McKinley has created a very interesting world where the present is the after days of the Voodoo Wars, where humans along side demons, were-animals fought against the villainous vampires who now control most of the wealth of the world. A sort of uneasy peace governed by the SOF (considered the Vampire Police) has settled in Old Town where Sunshine lives, as humans know but ignore the fact that a lot of the population contains part bloods, humans who have half demon, fairy or were-animal in them. Sometimes it's appears harmlessly, like Mary who always pours hot coffee every time but sometimes it can twist a person and make them psychotic, which is Sunshine greatest fear.

Sunshine considers herself a small changer, a person with the magic ability to change objects from one thing to another, like flowers into feathers but since meeting Constantine (Con) the vampire and during the course of following events Sunshine ends up finding out a lot more about herself, her mysterious family, her magical ability & vampires, more so than she ever wanted to know as she is quite happy pretending to be normal & to go along baking cinnamon rolls for the local coffee house for the rest of her life... yes, I know, how dull...

As I read the book I couldn't help but notice that Sunshine is one of 4 things during the course of the story: Fearful, Angry, Insanely Hysterical or Numb... and it's very hard to like her as a character. Sunshine's new acquaintance Con has the personality of statue but he's an old vampire, so it's a little easier to understand, though even he seems to have more depth to his character than Sunshine.

Now McKinley seems to overcompensate for Sunshine's lack of character by making her over explain everything in her thoughts. Most of the book is just paragraphs and paragraphs of Sunshine blathering on in an attempt to explain things that exist in her world that sometimes don't need explaining. What happened to leaving somethings out so the reader gets a chance to use their imagination. If you give use bits of information here and there I'm sure readers can connect the dots but no, McKinley seems to want to spoon feeds us, so the story often feels like it's taking painfully forever to get to the point.

I was often tempted to just skip to the end just to see if this Beauty & the Beast vs the Vampire World-esque story was worth reading but my need to know if Sunshine & Con would get beyond casual, if not painfully blase, friendship spurred me on.... Apart from an almost raunchy scene, I repeat almost raunchy, nothing happens between them besides the invisible bond they share since their time spent as prisoners... somewhat disappointing, considering on the book's front cover is says "....A mesmerizing SF horror romance..." False advertising anyone?

If anything McKinley has managed to create something unlike any vampire book before and then gentley smothered all it's possibilities while drowning it in her need to overspeak. Again, so disappointing.

Don't read this unless it's your absolute last resort and your very, very desperate.

Pages: 475 pages

Other Books by McKinley: The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, The Outlaws of Sherwood.

Book Review: My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey

Now there are two types of Vampire books. There's the corny ones filled with cliche undying loves scenes that make you either want to hurl or shoot yourself. Then there are the ones that take you by surprise and give a breath of fresh air to an overused, sometimes overrated genre.

My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey isn't as corny as the title suggests. The story centers around two girls who are as different as two people can be but are the best of friends. Lucky (a.k.a Lucy) Hamilton is a unique human teenager whose temper makes her punch first, ask questions later & is loyal to a fault. Solange (a.k.a Sol) Drake is also unique. Not only because she's the only girl in a blue-blood vampire family of 7 older brothers but also in a "first born female vampire in 900 years" with seriously crazy boy problems kind of way... Cat hearts anyone?

As the story progress you find out that Sol is going through her last days as being human as her 16th birthday approaches & the bloodchange creeps ever closer. On one side Sol's pheromones are on over drive making all the male vampires outside her immediate family throw themselves at her in a love-crazed frenzy, send her flowers & seriously strange gifts. On the other side a human organization of Vampire Hunters called Helios-Ra have suddenly started attacking the Drake family for unknown reasons, even under a treaty. One of which is Kieran Black, seriously cute but hellbent on exacting revenge on the Drake family for murder of his dad.

If that wasn't bad enough Sol's birth was prophecized centuries ago stating a female born to the Drake clan will rise to become Queen of the Vampires & unite all the vampire tribes together. Geez, pressure anyone?

Lucy on the other hand feels that she's is the weakest link in the defense around Sol, so she learned combat skills & weaponry from Sol mum in order to hold her own in protecting her best friend from those who wish her harm. As the battle & danger escalates she finds herself drawn closer to Sol's brother Nicholas, a guy filled with endless feuding/teasing banter since childhood & who usually makes Lucy want to poke him in the eye with a fork. Is it just the vampire pheromones at work making her see him differently or is it something more?

If you want a sappy vampire romance filled with corny confessions of love I suggest you read Twilight, as this isn't that type of book. If you want a little more out of your vampire book, with tender moments, funny banter & exciting battle scenes pick up this book, though I'll warn you once you start reading you'll want to keep reading till the last page.

Book Pages: 248
Book also known as: Hearts at Stake
Book Series : Drake Chronicles
Next Book: Blood Feud (Release Date: July 2010)