Category Archives: Young Adult

Becoming Alpha
(Alpha Girl, #1)
By: Aileen Erin
Publisher: Ink Monster
Published: Dec. 17, 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Rating:

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Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.

But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.

Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.

When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.

Tessa’s life has not been easy. Ever since she was little she’d get visions/memories from a person when she made skin-skin contact with them. So suffice to say, she doesn’t have any friends. When her father gets a job in Texas, resulting in their move, she finds herself starting over. No one knows about her freakish ability or why she wears gloves. So she’s now making friends and hiding her abilities pretty well. But when a boy from the local St. Alibe’s school kisses her a little to roughly, she finds herself the outcast again. That’s not the worst part though. She’s sent away to St. Alibe’s which is a school for werewolves. Which is exactly what Tessa is now. Like she didn’t already have enough on her plate as it was.

Tessa’s had a very lonely life. So when everything goes down and she finds herself in St. Alibe’s, she starts to make friends. She isn’t the weird one anymore. However, it does take her sometime to get used to the school and there are a couple of times where she tries to run away. Which is where the cover comes in. There’s a scene where she’s running through the woods being chased by Dastien and other wolves to stop her from running away. (I just love when a cover connects with the story)

Dastien wasn’t my favorite as far as “heroes” go. He would be strong and stoic one minute and then turn tail abandon Tessa and run the next. Oh and the whole thing with him hanging out with his ex-girlfriend/best friend or whatever the heck they were was not okay. I liked Tessa’s character so much more for not only standing up to Dastien but to the girl as well. She showed a lot of backbone and she got a lot of respect from me for it.

Aileen’s debut novel is pretty awesome. The world building is stellar and the characters, whether likable or not, really shone through. I’m interested to see what comes next for Tessa, Dastien and the gang. This is a great addition to the young adult paranormal romance genre.

“My face was intently hot as he laughed. Holy Freudian slip, Batman. Leave it to me to tell the hottest guy ever that one of my favorite song’s chorus was a guy yelling about how he wants to fu– ‘do’ them like an animal.”

Betwixt
(Betwixt, #1)
By: Melissa Pearl
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Nov. 5, 2012
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:

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Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.

Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.

Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?

When walking home from a party one night, Nicole is hit by a car and left for dead in the middle of nowhere. She finds herself having out of body experiences where no one can hear her except for Dale, the guy who she humiliated 4 months ago. He’s the last guy that would want to help her but he’s her only chance at getting help before it’s too late.

This was definitely an interesting story that balanced between paranormal, romance and thriller. You have Nicole who’s essentially a ghost, the awkward attraction between Dale and Nicole and the fact that when Nicole wakes up in her body, there are people looking to kill her so that she can’t tell the authorities what happened. It was a nice combination of the three.

However, I couldn’t really connect with Nicole. She was so ridiculously bitchy. She was mean to everyone, even Dale who was trying to help her. She was very insensitive and stuck her nose up at everything, even if it meant saving herself. I understand that something bad happened to her to make her lose control but her personality was not one that I enjoyed reading. I sort of felt bad for Dale who was being haunted by her. I’d have totally understood if this were a short story ending with him just ignoring her.

Dale however was the saving grace for me. Even though Nicole humiliated him and started his new nickname “Scarface”, he still decides to help her. Since call him Scarface, everyone in the school calls him that, which leaves him with very few friends in the school. So again, I wouldn’t have faulted him if he’d just pretended like he couldn’t hear Nicole when she came calling for help. But he was the bigger person and did everything he could to try to save her, even if she continued to insult him while he was doing so.

This was definitely a fun read. I liked that even though I didn’t like the main character at the beginning, or even through the majority of it, she starts to come down from her pedestal and starts to see what her actions have been causing. She realizes she has a lot going for her and that she was throwing it away. After a while she starts to come around full circle and isn’t such an annoyance to read.

I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by who the driver was but I was a little surprised by the ending. I felt like it was a tiny bit rushed. I mean we build up to this one moment and then when everything is all said and done, they are walking around acting like they’ve nothing to worry about because nothing happened. I don’t know, I just felt like it needed a little more oomph at the end.

“I hope no one can see him. What kind of moron randomly opens their front door, shirtless, and waves to the air?”

Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan… not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. “Best. Year. Ever!!” She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has produced four more books and has a YA fantasy trilogy coming out this year. Unknown and Unseen (The Elements Trilogy) out now!

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Betwixt
Beautiful, wild-child, Nicole Tepper, is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.

Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.

Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?

Before
In this prequel to Betwixt, find out who Dale Finnigan was before he became known as“scar-face”—the unassuming hero everyone underestimates.

Beyond
In this sequel to Betwixt, find out how Nicole Tepper proves to Dale that she loves him beyond all common sense.

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Kiss of Frost
(Mythos Academy, #2)
By: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: K-Teen
Published: Nov. 29, 2011
Genre: Fantasy/Mythology YA
Rating:

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I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword…

In the second installment of Mythos Academy we pick up shortly after Touch of Frost left off. The kids are getting ready to go to the yearly winter festival at a ski lodge and Gwen is convinced that there is another Reaper after her. Of course, going to the fesitval doesn’t really help matters. The Reaper has seemed to follow her and has pulled a bunch of tricks in order to kill her. However, Gwen’s learned a trick of her own to help her survive.

I was really hoping that once the the first book was out of the way and the ball was rolling that this one would start off with a bang, but that’s not the case. The author does a lot of reviewing about not only what took place in the last book, but about the characters themselves and the world that she created. I found myself skimming over a bit of the book to get to the story. Maybe if I hadn’t jumped from the first book straight to this one, the reviewing of everything wouldn’t have bothered me as much but I felt like I was reading the first in a series all over again.

I liked that the author added in more characters to the forefront. We get more interaction with Logan’s Spartan friends. They actually start training Gwen with weapons and self-defense. Plus there is a change of scenery since the students go away for the annual Winter Carnival at a ski lodge. And there is a potential new love interest for Gwen, who just might help her get her mind off of Logan and the fact that he’s moving on with another girl.

But… it felt very much like Frostbite to me. I know in my last review I said fans of Vampire Academy would enjoy this and they would. There are similarities between the two books that almost feel like it’s a re-telling of the story with a few variations mixed in.

I really enjoy the mythology in this story. I like the characters and the world that the author has created. I even like that it reminds me of VA since that is my favorite series. I will definitely continue with the series.

“Since coming to Mythos, I’d almost been run through with a sword and mauled to death by a killer kitty cat. Dirty looks didn’t faze me anymore.”

Previous reviews from Mythos Academy
Touch of Frost

Born at Midnight
(Shadow Falls, #1)
By: C.C. Hunter
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publisher: March 29, 2011
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:

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One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Kylie is sent to a summer camp after being arrested. She thinks it’s a camp for troubled teens but it doesn’t take her long to realize that that is not the case at all. This is a summer camp for supernaturals and even though she doesn’t think she belongs there, her night terrors and the “stalker” that no one else sees are proof that she’s right where she needs to be.

I liked that even though this story focuses on Kylie, we get background information on a handful of other characters as well. So I found myself getting attached to more than just the main character. She has two quirky roommates, one is a vampire, and the other is a witch who seems to have a pet toad, but is later revealed as a spell gone wrong on a sleazy man. There’s a cute guy who instantly takes an interest in Kylie and a bad boy who is of course also interested in her. However, I feel like he gets first dibs since he’s a neighbor from her childhood. Yes, this has the makings of your typical eye-rolling love triangle but I really enjoyed it.

I’m a huge fan of the title and series name. Too many times the series is named after the first book. However, the title comes from the fact that all supernaturals are born at midnight and Shadow Falls is the name of the camp where Kylie realizes that she’s not who she thought she was and will ultimately come into the supernatural that she’s meant to be.

And can I just take a second to applaud the author for not turning this book into a clique teen story. There is no “popular girl” who makes Kylie’s life hell. There really aren’t any cliques either. I liked that all the kids were there to not only learn about who they are but to get to know about other supes as well.

I’m most definitely going to be keeping up with this series. We still don’t know what Kylie is but I have a feeling that we will find out in the next book.

“I personally think the downside of being able to change into anything is the fear that you don’t know who you really are.”

Scorch
(Croak, #2)
By: Gina Damico
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: Sept. 25, 2012
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:

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Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home.

To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex. Her best chance at escape would be to stop Zara once and for all—but how can she do that from DeMyse, where the Grims seem mysteriously oblivious to Zara’s killing spree?

We pick up shortly after Croak left off. Lex is still dealing with the loss that took place in the previous book. She’s not the same old snarky Lex that we’re used to. She’s reserved, quite and a bit sulky. However, it doesn’t take long for her to start to return to her old self, but she will never be the same. Not to mention she still has a killer she has to catch and the townsfolk of Croak have turned not only against her, but her uncle (who’s mayor) as well.

The way the synopsis reads I thought that they would be on an adventure from the get go but that’s not the case. In fact they don’t actually head off to DeMyse until the last quarter of the book. The whole beginning of the book is the fallout of what took place in the last book as well as developing a little bit more of the story and mystery.

Again, Gina is amazing when it comes to creating interesting characters. We get two new characters added to the ranks of reaper, Bang and Pip. Bang doesn’t talk, instead she signs in her own way (not ASL) and Pip… well he’s a motor mouth. He talks a mile a minute and doesn’t have an off switch. The two new characters definitely added a little something to the table. Plus, we get King Tut! I mean… how many books have you read where King Tut is in it? I bet you didn’t know that he could bench press a camel named Lumpy? HAH! See that right there is why you must read the book. Gina is one crazy chick and her awesomeness shows in her writing.

Again, she leaves us with another cliffhanger. However, it works because it ends this chapter in their lives and starts a new journey in the next one. However, there are a lot of questions left unanswered and I for one will be tuning in to Rogue to see what happens next. Gina has skyrocketed to one of my top fave authors with the two books that she’s wrote. I love the way she creates a story, doesn’t get bogged down with mundane details and give her characters so many various personalities that you wish they were real so that you could try to befriend them. Seriously, I want a psychotic Lex as my friend.

There were so many freaking favorites that it was hard to choose just one but alas, I went with a Mort, Lex, Driggs combo. You see, since Lex and Driggs are dating and they are a pair of hormone driven teenagers, Uncle Mort and installed cameras throughout the house so that he can make sure there’s no hanky panky taking place.

“‘Hot today, huh?’ he shouted one evening before dinner, popping his head into the living room as Lex and Driggs dove to opposite ends of the couch. ‘Better cool down soon.’ He grinned and made one of those two-fingered I’m-watching-you gestures.”

Previous reviews from Croak
Croak

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