Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Publisher: Signet Eclipse      

Publication date: December 31st 2012
My rating: 2 stars

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twenty-something girls—with one tiny exception: They're the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weird…
The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders if the vampires of Tahoe are plague-ridden.
Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the area safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and—oh, yeah—not lose her heart to the wrong guy or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, he's coming for her and her sisters. 
This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

There are 3 reasons why I wanted to read this book. 

#1- Urban Fantasy! I love me some UF investigation scenes in the dark with a hottie by the MC's side. 

#2- Vamps! I love vampires ever since I was a small kid wishing I could be one. 

#3- The pretty cover of the second book. Yes! You've read it right. I wanted to read Sealed with a Curse so I could enjoy some quiet time with A Cursed Embrace. I want to live in that cover. It's not anything special but I just adore it. 

Buuuut... I guess I won't be reading the second book after all because the first one made me say I can't even... so many times. It had so many elements I usually love to read about but they just didn't work well in this case. The author would introduce paranormal being as one thing but she would change things around really quickly. For instance, The Wird Sisters are bad-asses with brains or so I thought. There were so many things they knew nothing about(basic paranormal things about their world) but they knew some things which weren't as obvious. It didn't make sense. It's like they knew abstract algebra but didn't know anything about algebra 1.0.1. 

I don't even want to discuss the vampires, werewolves and witches... 

Book Review: Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Book: Into the Still Blue (#3 Under the Never Sky)
Author: Veronica Rossi
File Type: Hardcover
Release Date:
Publisher:
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

synopsis:The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece" Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Timesbestselling Through the Ever Night (Examiner.com).

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

And the end is here.

Every time I bid farewell to a book series that I indefinitely and obsessively love, I find myself drowning in emotions. 
This is one of those times. 

Under the Never Sky was a delicious surprise. Even with some flaws here and there, I found myself gravitating towards the story and its characters and savouring ever moment. When that was over, I couldn’t wait to get to the next installment because the cliffhanger had me panting with desperation to know as to what in the world happened next. 
Then came, Through the Ever Night which pretty much attacked me like a wreaking ball.
And here I am, with Into the Still Blue. The finale. The End.

Judging from the three stars above, it takes no rocket science to see that I didn’t like this one as much as I liked its predecessors. 
Even though the execution and punches were so much more polished than the ones we came across in the previous two books, there was this sort of disconnect I felt that I had with the story and its characters. It’s weird because I remember losing my mind while reading Through the Ever Night and bawling like a baby when certain events took place and put my favourite characters in a fix. I remember how I felt so empathetic towards Perry and his evergreen dilemmas. I felt for Aria. I felt for Roar. I FELT.
Here? I don’t think that these characters and I are in sync anymore. 

The swoon was dead and so was the passion. What happened?

I’ve noticed how in almost all the three books, the initial pages don’t really pull you into the story almost immediately. You have to read more and more to finally get to that point where you are totally engrossed.
Weirdly, this again, wasn’t the case with ITSB. The initial pages were okay and as I started reading more and more, I kept looking for that point of intersection where I would finally stop thinking and get it on with the book and the characters, but unfortunately, I never really did reach that point. Those moments did come in flashes here and there in times of conflict, but that’s all that happened. It didn’t build into more and that was disappointing. 

And then the end came, and like every epilogue, this one gave me an insight into what happens next to our dear characters. A case of silver lining here is that ,even after all the hullabaloo of disconnect, I was pretty satisfied. 
Into the Still Blue certainly wasn’t the best in the series but if you look at it on an individual platform, it was pretty okay. 

Veronica Rossi’s writing was impressive as always. Perry’s and Aria’s world is one where I wouldn’t like to live. Those funnels of Aether, charred landscape and unforgiving conditions were enough to give me the chills and the fact that Rossi’s imagination and creation can achieve what every book with a post-apocalyptic theme aims for speaks volumes regarding its success.
Secondary characters seem to be the trump card of every book. 
It was Roar in Through the Ever Night and now, Soren inInto the Still Blue. 
Soren really surprised me and this was even after, I knew that I was going to like him. I had already read some reviews before reading ITSB and almost all of them had something to say about Soren. If Roar propelled TTEN for you then Soren will saveITSB for you. 
There were other characters like Brooke, Reef and Hess who wowed me with their presence and I’m glad that Ms. Rossi gave each one of them a place for themselves. 

Now as I conclude, remember how I mentioned that it was one of those times?
After this there would be no more of Aria and Perry. No more of Roar. No more of Soren. No more of those funnels of Aether. No more of the Still Blue. (OR Ms. Rossi could always WRITE MORE about them.)
But as a reader, I’ve lived a thousand lives and loved thousand time more, and just like all great things finally come to an end, so has this and I eagerly wait for more.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperCollins      

Publication date: February 4th 2014
My rating: 5 stars

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew - about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam - was wrong.

Warning! There will be spoilers. I won't hold my tongue for anyone. I want to be free to express my thoughts since I can't explain why I'm my life is ruined by fictional character to my family or friends. So if you don't want to know about which guy Juliette chose in the end, shoo! 

Another warning. This review won't make any sense. My thoughts are scattered all over my brain and I'm still pretty much not sure how I'm going to continue my life without a new book every winter. 

What mind fuckery is this? I felt like I was going crazy while reading this book. I would clutch my hair, flail all over the room, cry, yell This is my ship!, shimmy and pretend I'm taking a part in those gifs where people are REALLY excited about something. 

Ignite Me was better than seeing your favorite band perform live for the first time. I don't get excited easily but I was acting like a mad woman today. I never felt this way about any book/series before. Tahereh delivered again, so surprise there. I had some doubts about whether she would kill off characters. I was worried about my King getting hurt. I'm not gonna lie, if I had to choose between saving everyone else or just King Warner... well, do I even need to answer that? 

Readers didn't like Juliette in Shatter Me and Unravel Me but I was one of those who loved her manic ass right from the start. She grew up and learned who she really is. She's someone who fights no matter what, tried to do the right thing every time, has a kind heart and thinks positive. She's a true fighter, is determined and I love her. 

Adam was an useless POS, most of the time. Who'm I kidding?! He was awful towards Juliette after he found out they wouldn't be getting together. He was being an ex from hell. Juliette was being nice but he wouldn't let go of his anger. The only person he treated nicely was James. Not even Kenji could get on his good side. 

Kenji! The sweet sidekick. He's always helpful. He's still a mystery. Hmmm... I wonder if he'll get his own novella because I don't think he got to shine properly in this trilogy. I'm actually pissed Fracture Me ended up being Adam's novella and not Kenji's. No one asked for Adam's POV, ok?! People were demanding another Warner novella while I was the only one in there asking for more Kenji. No one wanted to read what is not inside Adam's head! 

Here's the part I was saving for the end. King Warner. His Stylish Majesty, Aaron Warner Anderson. AAAHHHHHH!!! Sorry! How to describe this man? He's perfect. I have nothing bad to say about him. I am ready to be ravished on the table. haha And I'm not even done there. I want him in the bathtub while we try out his soaps. I want him on the bed, bench press in the training room and in the elevator. Sorry! I got carried away again. I swear, I didn't mean to go there but my thoughts just drift. I'm gonna be serious for a second now. Warner turned out even better than I initially thought and all the haters will probably change their mind. If not, then you can just re-read Shatter Me for the rest of your life and pretend the other two master pieces never happened. 

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation with one of my friends. We were discussing our exes and she said she would never like her ex now because she grew up and changed a lot. She doesn't want to cuddle a guy who's too insecure about himself and them in general. She was right. So many relationships fell apart not because people stop loving each other but because they changed. And that's the main reason I knew Adam and Juliette would never work. He would never get used to Juliette's powers, her desire to be free and to want more from life just like she doesn't want to be 'all' he wants. 

Chapter 55 made me cry. I was seriously freaking out while reading it and then it was over. I had to set the book down and cry for a couple of minutes. Why did I cry? Well, because my ship is canon!!! King Warner found happiness and it made me happy. Just when I thought nothing can top Chapter 55, Chapter 58 comes along and I start levitating. 

I can say thing with certainty- Aaron Warner is the best male character in whole bookdom. Move over Mr.Darcy, Jace, Dimitri, Will, Adrian, Eric, Barrons and all others. You can't fight me on this because there's just no way anyone has all the qualities for the sexiest man ever. He's Juliette's bird for God's sake! If you still want to comment about some other dude, please do, I'll just laugh his peasant ass off. 

I could write for hours about this book but I'll just stop here. Tahereh Mafi is finally replacing Richelle Mead as my favorite author. After so many year, Richelle has lost the throne. Never saw this coming. Thank you, Tahereh. For your incredibly unique prose, for your impeccable  style and for giving antagonists a completely different side. 

Top Ten Tuesday #28

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

I didn't know where to start with this list. I already made a 'cry fest' shelf on Goodreads and I had to think about which books actually made me cry the most. 

Most of them were sad tears. I think I cried the most while reading The Storyteller and you can read my gif review HERE . This book shook me pretty hard. Forbidden was hard to read but The Storyteller was just another totally different thing. 

I would recommend all of them to anyone. You can't miss these books. Please read them, please.