Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts

22 October 2014

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Author: Laini Taylor
Release date: April 8th, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
My Ratings: 3.5 out of 5

synopsis:By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.


It started out with a tale of an art student with naturally grown and coloured blue hair ,a mysterious connection with a fiery eyed angel, handprints on a door and an inevitable, irreprehensible destiny. 

Who would've thought that would have escalated into this?

Laini,dear, what do you eat? 

Dreams of Gods and Monsters brought to you classic Laini Taylor and her fantastical works. 
War, blood, creation, destruction, resurrection, death, magic, fate, choice..oh glory! The list goes on.
Page after page, your emotions were played with, your dreams were shattered and remade and your frustration built. Word after word, you wondered. Would things ever be okay?
Every character was burdened by his or her personal dilemma. Dilemma there, dilemma here, dilemma everywhere and what did you do as you stood by, involved and enchanted by their misery, trials and tribulations?

YOU SCREAMED. Your hurt bled. You wanted the fucking dilemma to be over already. 

There are two things that you must derive from this.
One, this book was painfully good. Two, this book was painfully long.
Look, I get it. You can't just have a war and sunshine and few kisses and blah to seal the deal. I get your need to add another sub-plot associated with another sub-plot to make this book awesome and better than its predecessors.
But you forget, less is more. 

This book should've finished 100 pages before it actually did. 

The starting few chapters were slow but likable. Holding onto a ginormous hardcover, you as a reader, already know that this will be a long journey to cover. But as you go by and delve more, you start to realise how ridiculously unnecessary many aspects of the novel were and that's when you're painfully pissed off. You keep asking yourself again and again: 'how much more?'

I would've never expected this to happen with this book but that's maybe because my expectations were so high with this one and that end? 
God. No. Just no.
After a tedious yet enjoyable journey, you do not expect things to be so, how do I say, slimy?
I like how the book ends on a note of uncertainty. I love how you don't know what the future holds for these few characters that you have come to love other than the fact that right now, in this moment, they're exactly where they need to be. Buuut, no.

But here's what so magical about this one. Even after its torpid pace and unwanted hundred chapters, the very last page, the finale, left me happy and satisfied. It left me nestling the hardcover near my chest and I felt my heart breaking once more, like it always does, when great things, like they always do, come to an end.
So what if I and the novel don't agree with each other?

As romances go, we're indisputably and inexplicably in love and it feels pretty damn awesome.


24 November 2013

Book Review: World After by Susan Ee.


World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)Book :World After (#2 Penryn and the End of days.)
Author: Susan Ee
File Type: Paperback
Release Date: November 21st, 2013
Publisher: Skyscape.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

synopsis:
In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?



WHAT ARE YOU, SUSAN?

My brain has officially exploded and it feels fantastic.
My heart is still racing. My brain, by the way is still exploding. There is an earthquake in my body and it still hasn't stopped affecting me. Mind you, this is 24 hours after finishing the book and additional six hours of sleep where I dreamt of Pooky bear.

....Pooky Bear.

If somebody asked me about my favourite character in the entire book, I'd have to say that it would be Pooky Bear. HANDS DOWN.
On second thought, I'd probably divide my love and give some to Paige too, because her role in the book moved my soul.
I'm an emotional child and Paige had me weeping my eyes out.
WAIT. My thoughts need some modification. I'll have to add Penryn's mom (WHAT IS HER NAME, ANYWAY?)too. World After could never be World After if not for her evergreen presence. She was creepy, hilarious and badass. VERY badass.

As for Penryn, I've always thought that she was a fantastic protagonist and she continues to live upto my skyscraper expectations, but sorry girley, your mom, sister and sword stole the show and also, my heart.

I won't go into much detail. There's a lot happening in this one. We have scorpion-beasts-who-are-part-human and their stingers. We have bad bad bad angels. We're taken to the 'enchanting' prison, Alcatraz and we're further thrown into a world, where humans aren't just the pests that are to be exterminated but also a sensational piece of entertainment. Personally, I would definitely not like to live in a world that is like the one in the book. It scares the shit out of me and I sure as hell do not wish to be an energy-lollipop or in simple words, food. THIS is definitely one of many positives of World After and the fact that the detailing, setting, atmosphere and feel of the entire storyline was successful in making me feel uncomfortable, in a good way of course, in more than twenty occasions, says more than enough about its awesomeness.

There is so much emotion bottled into this one tiny book. There is pain. There is wonder. There is fear. There is sorrow. There is hope. There is courage. There is BADASSNESS. There is longing. There is love.
Also, there is so much of humour.
I don't remember laughing so much during Angelfall, or maybe I did but I clearly don't remember. From Penryn's decision to name the sword Pooky Bear to her mother to Raffe *melts* and to finally the twins, tweedledum and tweedledee.

EVERYTHING WAS SO FUNNY.

Although, Angelfall had me cringing more with all those gruesome things running around, World After made sure that it wasn't far behind.
Like I said, I never want to exist in a world like that.

And now, Raffe.
I'M SORRY BUT WHY WASN'T THERE MORE OF HIM? You're breaking my heart, Susan. WHY MUST YOU FINISH THE BOOK SO SOON. I wouldn't mind if you wrote millions of pages! I'd read them all, even if they're crap. I love crap. But getting back to the point that I had initially raised: Why did you rob me off my Raffe? *weeps*
Friends, there was Raffe but it wasn't Raffe Raffe. He was there yet not there. AND THAT DOES NOT SATISFY ME,okay?
He's still cool though. BUT. I WANT MORE RAFFE.

The world is an unfair place.

This book got over too fast. I'm sorry but this review is just pissing me off now. I AM SO ANGRY. They expect me to wait two more years for this? Two more years to wait for Raffe? And Pooky Bear?
Penryn's mom should just pop out from the book and do her thing. I'm pretty sure that the success rate would be pretty high then. Or Maybe, Penryn should start with her kicking ,Paige with her chewing and Raffe, well.... just about anything. Please, come to me fast. This wait will kill me. KILL ME.

"You came for me."

Note: THAT ABOVE is my favourite quote in the entire book and it's mocking me.





07 November 2013

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor


Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers     
Publication date: September 27th 2011
My rating: 4 stars

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
I'm well aware of the fact I'm 2 years too late. I get that but hey! I'm here now and that's what counts. 

I set out to write this review but I'm still not sure what to say. I keep thinking about the romance between Karou and Akiva. I'll explain my issues with it soon. 

First of, the whole paranormal world in Prague was interesting. The architecture, the art, the culture... even the people pretending to be vampires were fun. We meet Karou in a dark alley getting felt up by her ex boyfriend who's an vampire/actor. They broke up because he cheated on her and Karou doesn't want to see his lying face anywhere near her. Kaz doesn't feel the same way and follows her to her art school where he poses naked in front of her whole class. Awkward. She eventually gets her revenge, wishing Kaz gets nasty itches to scratch in  his most  private places. Her friend Zuzana's there to cheer with her. 

Karou's a blue haired girl who loves to draw strange characters with snake tails, bull heads and some human parts.  What you didn't know is those characters are real. They are Issa and Brimstone, her sort of guardians.  They deal with wishes and can open a portal to just about any place on Earth you could imagine with simply opening their door. Karou helps them acquire human/animal teeth for some reason she's still not aware of. She does try to get some info about her parents, herself, even about the teeth but Brimstone is not giving away any secrets. 

Like with every other story, things get messy after 'the guy' shows up.  A mysterious angel attacks Karou in the streets of Marrakesh. I'm just going to stop here for just a second cause I feel like I should say this. Everybody knows I love a good romance but in this case I prayed for less. I didn't want to read about feelings when there's so much to see in this crazy paranormal universe. Everything was going along fine till Akiva showed up. And they were attracted towards each other right from the start. 

I was so ready to hate the second part of the book because of the dreaded romance but the craziest thing happened. I started liking the whole Karou and Akiva thing. The flashback scenes saved it. If it weren't for them, I would've pegged it as another insta-love. 

So, if you're up for some quality paranormal fiction, pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone. You won't regret it. It's full of magical creatures, drawings, fights between good and evil and of course, a steamy romance. 

21 April 2013

Hidden by Marianne Curley


Hidden by Marianne Curley
Publisher: Bloomsbury 
Publication date: June 25th 2013
My rating: 1 star


For as long as Ebony can remember, she's been sheltered. Confined to her home in a secluded valley, home-schooled by her protective parents, and limited to a small circle of close friends. It's as if she's being hidden. But something is changing in Ebony. Something that can't be concealed. She's growing more beautiful by the day, she's freakishly strong, and then there's the fact that she's glowing. 
On one fateful night, Ebony meets Jordan and she's intensely drawn to him. It's as if something explodes inside of her--something that can be seen from the heavens. Ebony still doesn't know that she's a stolen angel, but now that the heavens have found her, they want her back.

 Jesus Christ! Please strike these characters from Heaven! Please, I beg of you. 

I've never read a Marianne Curley book before but a lot of people seem to love Old Magic so I thought, what the hell, Hidden has a pretty cover and the blurb sounds decent even though most angel books turn into fails, at least for me they do. So... I. Read. IT! 

I read it after dropping it two months ago. It was so painfully stupid. The characters! My God! The insta love is in warp speed. And it happens twice. Please, take your time so it sinks in. It happens twice! This girl feels this insane attraction and 'love' for two guys. She is such an immature brat. She disobeys her mother and gets into more trouble at every turn. Oh. I can just feel this headache thumping inside my head. It's pounding more and more. And the mother is not any better than her daughter. It's probably genetic. Just picture yourself being 15 or 16 and telling your friends how mean your mum is for not allowing you a lot of things. Picture her being stupid, because there is no way a mother can be smarter than her child. No way. Sounds familiar? There you go! I'm sure we've all done it once or twice. But we aren't smarter than our parents, at least not till our boobs stop growing. 

Who wouldn't be pissed off if s/he had to deal with this type of ridiculous characters and storyline in general? 

I wanted to like it. I even put it on my wishlist so I could order it. I'm glad I waited and wasn't blinded with the pretty cover. 


25 March 2013

Book Review: Shadows by Paula Weston


Title:  Shadows
Author:  Paula Weston
File type:  paperback
Release date:  January 3rd, 2013
Genre:  NA, paranormal romance, angels

Love. Nightmares. Angels. War. A fast-paced, compelling debut novel from a fresh new voice in YA.
It’s been almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant.
It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams, he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense.
Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth – and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.
Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly – who can she trust?






I started reading this book last year, when it first came out but when I found out it's coming out in paperback in 2013 set it aside even though I read 60%. And I had to read it from the start when I finally got it, which I didn't mind since it was engaging from the start. 

Shadows is a story about Gaby Winters who's been dreaming about killing demons since her brother lost his head in a car crash, only to find out those aren’t only dreams, but reality. She turned her nightmares into a story which brought Raffa into her life. Raffa is a Rephaim, a descendant of horny angels. He tells Gaby she is also a Rephaim, only on other, good side.  But Gaby is not buying it until some other Rephaim come and snatch her best friend Maggie. This sort of reminded me of Angelfall, when those angels took Page from Pennryn only Pennryn handled it better while Gaby was pretty clueless the whole time. 

Raffe is a bad boy and he didn't catch my eye since I've read about a lot of bad boys in the past. Wish I could say more about him. I'm sure a lot of people will like him. He just wasn't anything special, at least not for me.  Hope Weston will show his different side in the sequel, or at least reveal some of his secrets. 

Angel books are usually a big no-no to me. So far, I've only liked two angel novels- Unearthly and Angelfall. Others just seem to juvenile or messy. Shadows is somewhere in between. I liked it enough to pre-order the sequel. 




28 January 2013

Book Review: Boundless by Cynthia Hand


Boundless (Unearthly, #3)

Book: Boundless
Author: Cynthia Hand
File Type: Ebook
Release Date: 22nd January 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen 


synopsis:

The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

review:
"That's what I feel. I'd die to to protect you."
 


OR

"That little stink. That overly protective, impossible, infuriating, and utterly sweet little stink."

If you read my earlier reviews of Unearthly and Hallowed, you would notice that I wasn't a big fan of both the books. The flaw lay in the story. Even though both the books were fairly entertaining and all the characters had voices that screamed 'FUN', in the end it all came down to how and where the story led you and in both the cases, it only led me to disappointment. And that is precisely why, I wasn't so excited about reading this one. In other cases, many of my friends have totally adored this series and have been swept off their feet by the cowboy (yes,Tucker.) of the book. I, being the party pooper, couldn't see why they even liked him.
My heart was always vouching for Christian, the other guy. The guy who understood Clara's problems and the guy who always stood by her.
To also add to that, LOVE TRIANGLES INFURIATE ME.

So you can only imagine how this one here surprised me!
It could be the last-book-of-the-series-syndrome or could be because my expectations were low but hell, this book was the perfect end to the series.
I like how this one wasn't all about Clara.
After reading Radiant , the short story which had Angela's and Clara's trip to Italy narrated in it, we already know that there are problems simmering on the surface. And we also have the finale of the Tucker-Clara-Christian triangle drama. Which might I add was really bittersweet. I'm sure all of you want to know who Clara finally ends up with, don't you? 
The best thing about this book is that it's the real deal. The final showdown. In many words, all the crap or amazingness the previous two books put us all through finally makes sense and sounds worthwhile when you come to read this one.

And there is that ACTION.
Hurray!!! I'm doing the googly dance just because there are action sequences in this one. There is fighting. And there is nobody in this whole wide world who could be as happy as I am to see violent fights. 
Now you would think why anyone would even like violence and would want perfectly okay people fight and probably kill each other?
Because, Katniss wouldn't have been Katniss if there was no war and there is nothing like that adrenaline rush you feel when you're in the middle of an action sequence.

To put simple things straight, this book was fantastic.
It was fun, sad , shocking and heart-exploding and I'm surprised that I'm even alive.
I changed who I liked again and again and finally had to just accept what Ms.Hand threw at me. As a reader, whenever there was thinking required , I thought and thought and did my guessing but never did I ever come close.

In the end, Boundless redeemed itself and made me totally happy. So if you're one of those who like me questions whether he/she should read this one, then I would definitely recommend you to stop questioning yourself and just read this book because you know you want to. And as for those who do, what the hell are you even waiting for? :D




06 December 2012

Radiant by Cynthia Hand

Title: Radiant (Unearthly, #2.5)
Author: Cynthia Hand
File type: ebook
Release date: December 4th, 2012
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, Angels

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand comes a riveting original novella (available only as an ebook) set in the world of the Unearthly series.
Clara is desperate to get away—from the memories that haunt her in Wyoming and the visions of a future she isn't ready to face—and spending the summer in Italy with her best friend, Angela, should be the perfect escape. . . .
For as long as she can remember, Angela has been told that love is dangerous, that she must always guard her heart. But when she met a mysterious guy in Italy two years ago she was determined to be with him, no matter the costs. Now she must decide whether she can trust Clara with her secret, or if telling her the truth will risk everything she cares about.
Alternating between Angela and Clara's perspectives, Radiant chronicles the unforgettable summer that will test the bounds of their friendship and change their lives forever.

I'm torn between giving 4 or 5 stars. I loved it so much. First Destroy Me and now Radiant! You people are trying to kill me! I want,I need Unravel Me and Boundless. Since Unravel Me is pre-ordered I only need to find some money to get Boundless too.Tucker and Warner! All I need to say to you is


*clears throat* Anyway


This is mostly Angela’s story but we also have Clara’s POV.  We get to see how they spent their summer in Italy before heading out to college. I liked Angela since Unearthly. There is just something in me that makes me love reading about goths and practically everyone who stands out.

Clara is still dealing with her mother’s death, her brother’s disappearance, and her breakup with my fictional boyfriend, Tucker while Angela sees her secret boyfriend, Phen (Penamue). IMO, they make an interesting couple. Since Clara is an empath she gets a glimpse into Phen’s soul and doesn’t like what she sees not because he ‘bad’ or ‘good’ but because he is an angel and apparently angels are incapable of loving people (cause they are God’s creation and they are meant to serve only him, something like that), but they do care, just not enough. So Clara thinks he should stay away from Angela because he will break her heart in the end. Phen is a Intangere (angel with a purpose, dunno exactly what it means) and he basically inspires people to write, compose, draw, etc.  He is a nice guy/angel and he is described as looking like Orlando Blood *drools*. He has that Dimitri Belikov quality about him I find incredibly appealing and you can feel that he is helping Angela to grow up as a character. Since Clara doesn’t think hooking up with an angel is a good thing this sets a strain in their friendship so they spend the rest of the summer practically not talking to each other. I am looking forward seeing how will they work things out in Stanford, or will it set them farther apart.

This novella also features a prologue and the first chapter of Boundless which will probably blow my mind away.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Wendy bringing Clara’s stuff back from Tucker and inside the box there was a copy of Vampire Academy. VA is basically the reason I got into books. Before it, reading was just an obligation. I never knew there is a thing called Young Adult fiction. Well, I did read HP and Twilight but I thought that was just a one/two time thing.