The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Pages (Paperback): 619 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Released: May 6, 2008

Description: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Review: Once upon a time, I read Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I liked Twilight, didn't like New Moon, thought Eclipse was okay, and Breaking Dawn wasn't too bad (if you ignore the imprinting). Then I read The Host and wow. This is seriously the best book Meyer wrote, I find it a shame that there is only one adult book by her, because this definitely suits her writing style.

Grade: 10 lines out of 10

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Prey by Thomas Emson

Pages (Hardcover): 469 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks Ltd.

Released: November 1, 2009

Description: Laura Greenacre's enemies, the Templetons, have scoured the earth for her since the horrific events at Trafalgar Square eight years ago.

And they think they've found her.

Ruth Templeton, now a werewolf herself, leaves a trail of carnage across Europe as she makes her way to New York. Russian cop, Lev Dasaev, is hunting the brutal killer of a Russian pimp. The trail leads him to America. To the lair of a madman called Wheeler Burns.

And when Burns joins forces with Ruth Templeton, Dasaev and Laura face annihilation...

And the ultimate hunter becomes the ultimate prey.

Review: After reading Maneater, Skarlet, and Prey, I have to say that Prey is Emson's best work yet. The writer is cleaner, the plot is better, and Laura is still as bad as ever.Watching the difference between Ruth and Laura was a treat, especially in the manner in which each lady tries to seek revenge. Ruth is heartless, but I love it! This is Emson book yet. Can't wait to read more from him.

Grade: 10 lines out of 10

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Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Pages (Paperback): 256 pages

Publisher: Speak

Released: May 11, 2004

Description: Strange, sleepy Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody, not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on her family's expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden fists, lost in her search for herself.

Review: This was my first Sarah Dessen novel and all I can say is wow! The story is about Caitlin and her abusive boyfriend. I kept wanting to tell her to run and leave her boyfriend, but she didn't. She just fell into a steady rhythm of abuse and drugs, which was depressing to watch. This is a very powerful, brutally honest, and realistic book about teen abuse. Definitely a must read!

Grade: 10 lines out of 10

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"Waiting On" Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

So a book that I'm anticipating is:

The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Pages (Hardcover): 400 pages

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

Release Date: August 31, 2010

Summary: Lucy Sexton is stunned when a disheveled woman appears at the door one day…a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lucy's own beautiful mother. It turns out the two women are identical twins, separated at birth, and raised in dramatically different circumstances. Lucy's mother quickly resolves to give her less fortunate sister the kind of life she has never known. And the transformation in Aunt Helen is indeed remarkable. But when Helen begins to imitate her sister in every way, even Lucy isn't sure at times which twin is which. Can Helen really be trusted, or does her sweet face mask a chilling agenda?

Filled with shocking twists and turns, THE TWIN'S DAUGHTER is an engrossing gothic novel of betrayal, jealousy, and treacherous secrets that will keep you guessing to the very end.


My thoughts: The more I hear about this book, the more I want it. I kind of have a feeling that Aunt Helen will try to take over, but I think there is something so much more with this book and the cover...the cover is just brilliant!

Skarlet by Thomas Emson

Pages (Paperback): 448 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks Ltd.

Released: December 1, 2009

Description: Fear grips London as dozens of clubbers die after taking a sinister new drug. But that's only the beginning. Forty-eight hours later, the dead clubbers wake up - and it's open season on the living, who are butchered for their blood.

Soon, London gives a name to its terror: Vampires.

Jake Lawton, bitter and betrayed after the Iraq War, finds himself fighting another battle - against the growing army of immortal hunters and their human cohorts. Lawton joins forces with the journalist who brought about his downfall and the dealer tricked into distributing the drug. And together they take on the spineless authorities, the ruthless cohorts, and the hungry dead.

But the vampire plague unleashed in London is nothing to what lurks beneath the streets - waiting to be fed ...waiting to be resurrected ...waiting to reign again over a city of human slaves...

Review: Thomas Emson takes a bite into the vampire genre and creates a new spin that is more horroresque than lovely. Skarlet's vampires are in the same vein as 30 days of Night, so the vampires come in swarms and they want to kill you. Like Maneater, it's not for everyone, but if you like an action packed novel with vampires then definitely pick this up!

Grade: 9 lines out of 10

For the full length review, visit Books may Vary

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns by Elizabeth Leiknes

Pages (Hardcover): 167 pages

Publisher: Bancroft Press

Released: June 15, 2009

Description: Lucy Burns wants a normal life: friends, love, and a family of her own. And she could have it all if only she could break free from the job she hates.

That job? Facilitator to hell.

And her boss is a real devil.

At the age of eleven, to save her sister's life, Lucy writes a desperate letter to "To Whom It May Concern", but when He writes back, Lucy is bound for life. There are perks: sure she's ageless, she's beautiful, and she can eat as much chocolate as she wants and never get fat, but there are also consequences.

She can never see her family again.

She can never have a boyfriend.

She must spend her life leading sinners to their demise.

After nineteen years of doing the Devil s dirty work, Lucy wants out, but it all seems hopeless until Teddy Nightingale, her easy listening music idol, gives her the answer: a little-known loophole.

If she succeeds, Lucy gets love, happiness, and everything she ever really wanted. But the consequences? They're considerably worse than death. To make it through, Lucy must decide what is evil and what is good, what is right and what is wrong, and if, in the end, there's ever any way to truly know.

Review: The plot is very charming and Lucy is a great lead character. She makes you want to root for her and hope that she can one day be happy. It also shows that material wealth doesn't always make one happy and if you add working for the Devil, it can make anyone want to cry their eyes out. I would have liked to see more of Lucy and her job, but other than that I thought the book was wonderful. Get it!

Grade: 9.5 lines out of 10

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"Talk About It" + Teaser Tuesday

I love memes...

"Talk About It" Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Thoughts of a Book Junky. You're meant to spotlight new and upcoming authors or books that you're dying to read.

So my pick is The Dead Detective by William Heffernan, which comes out on October 1st, 2010. It sounds like an awesome mystery/thriller with hints of supernatural. It's my kind of book and I can't wait to read it!

Harry Doyle was murdered as a ten-year-old child and brought back to life by two Tampa cops. Twenty years later he has dedicated his life to putting killers behind bars as a homicide detective who has the unwanted ability to hear the postmortem whispers of murder victims. Dubbed "The Dead Detective" by his fellow cops, Doyle now faces his most difficult case - a beautiful murder victim who was a notorious child molester. It is a case that will shake Harry to his very core.

~-.-~

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 I just recently finished the Twilight series and I remembered that I owned The Host. I never had the chance to read it, so I'm doing so now.

That's how we realized you were here, you know, she said, thinking of the sickening news headlines again. When the evening news was nothing but inspiring human-interest stories, when pedophiles and junkies were lining up at the hospitals to turn themselves in, when everything morphed into Mayberry, that's when you tipped your hand.

~ Taken from page 108 of The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I wonder what news headline they are talking about, I need to go finish reading this. I'm only on page 44.

The Likeness by Tana French

Pages (Paperback): 512 pages

Publisher: Penguin

Released: May 26, 2009

Description: Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She's transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O'Neill, but she's too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl's ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.

With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie's real identity, Cassie's old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn't fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding. At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim's identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.

As she is drawn into Lexie's world, Cassie realizes that the girl's secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie's growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk. Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we've come to love, from an author who has proven that she can deliver.

Review:  I miss Rob. I really miss Rob. *sigh* Will we ever see Rob again? The story, while interesting, isn't plausible. You'll have to suspended your disbelief in order to understand it and it has a lot of holes. This isn't a bad book and it still is beautifully written, but it just didn't have the same magic as In the Woods. It also doesn't answer some of the questions from the last book.


Grade: 7 lines out of 10



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In the Woods by Tana French

Pages (Paperback): 464 pages

Publisher: Penguin

Released: May 27, 2008

Description: As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox — his partner and closest friend — find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Review: In the Woods is a beautifully written mystery that will get you sucked in and wanting more. And when I mean wanting more, I mean wanting more, because the most interesting aspect of the novel never gets solved. It's annoying, frustrating, and it makes you want to scream, but it works. Strange, eh? Lovely novel, it did have some rough spots, but the writing makes up for it.

Grade: 7.5 lines out of 10



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Maneater by Thomas Emson

Pages (Paperback): 380 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks

Released: June 2009

Description: She’s not sweet. She’s not nice. She doesn’t fight evil. She doesn’t protect the weak. She doesn’t work in an office by day and have a secret identity by night. She doesn’t have friends and family who know nothing about her, but when they find out they love her anyway. She’s not cool. She’s not clever. She’s not kind to animals. She won’t help children, the elderly, and those less fortunate than herself.

In fact, she doesn’t care. But if you hurt her, she will kill you. Actually, she’ll do worse than that. . .Meet Laura. She’ll eat you alive.

Review: This is a fantastic book and if you are a lover of horror and werewolves, then do yourself a favour and pick this one up. It's action packed, fast paced, and Laura is a great werewolf. She has no bones about killing people and I love that she's in tune with her animal side. My only complaint is that the phrase "eat you alive" is mentioned quite a bit, other than that, it's great. I loved it!

Grade: 9.5 lines out of 10



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