Review: Marked & Betrayed - PC and Kristin Cast

Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change.  It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  

Betrayed, Book 2

Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night.  She’s come to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess, Nyx, has given her, and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, Zoey finally feels like she belongs--like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. 

I have very mixed feelings about this book. One side of me thought book 1 was ok, but this second book, I started to get annoyed.

First there is this thing that all vampires are beautiful, so only pretty people change? And of course they get even more beautiful after they are marked. Zoey is of course truly beautiful. She gets best friends the first day at school, she has always been popular. But no she is no mean girl, she says it time after time that she is a real geek.

Then there is the guys, she calls this other girl a slut for one thing, but she herself has 2 boyfriends, and flirting with another. There is where I started to get annoyed with her, of course she feels a little bad, but come on she cheats. And the guys, hottest things around, and yes geeks. Like we couldn't like someone beautiful who wasn't a geek. It feels like they want to maker her and them feel just like us "normal ugly geeky people".

And she has vampire super powers. Yes she is special, and will become very powerful, perhaps most ever. There I got the Mary Sue thoughts.

Then there is the language, like totally teen, whatever. Sure I used words, and still use them, but she sounds like those she does not like. Skinny girls, bimbos, sluts, those who wear make-up, but then she is one. She does swear a lot too, but then so does I, but I don't have to read about it. it feels like they tried too much.

Forgot, all stars are vampires, all famous people ever seems to have been vampires. Hm.

Now it sounds like I hated it this book, but I did not. It was ok, the first one anyway, the second started to get too often under my skin.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Very YA paranormal.

Reason for Reading: Library books.

Final thoughts: Surely good for YA fans.

Review: Web of Deceit - Darlene Cox

Web of Deceit by Darlene Cox

Genre: Fiction, thriller, mystery
Pages: 272
Published: August 2009

Peter Brock is a man to be envied. He is young, handsome, intelligent, a founding partner of one of New York's most prestigious law firms, and a respected member of the International Community of Currency Traders. But, that isn't enough to fulfill his goal in life. When he meets James Campbell , a very wealthy New York diamond dealer who would like to keep more of his wealth out of the hands of the IRS, Peter starts weaving a web of deceit to divert the bulk of Campbell's wealth to his own account. But, he needs a little help. He enlists Delilah, a strip-club dancer, to learn, through pillow talk, the extent of Campbell's wealth; and Jenny, a flight attendant for a major airline, to smuggle loose diamonds to Europe on international flights. As a coconspirator, how can Campbell yell "foul," at the risk of spending his remaining days in a Federal prison? The perfect Plan-so Peter thinks.

Unfortunately, his law partner, Jack Morrison, gets wind of the Plan and decides to toss in his ante. Now the game gets interesting-a case of diamond cut diamond. When two people wind up dead, Jack says "enough," leaving Peter hopelessly entangled in his web. As Jack says: "That's what happens when little fish try to swim with the predators."

I meant for Miss X to review this one, cos well she is the expert, but she was busy, and I told her too late. But then again, I needed something to take my mind of all those vampires, and all that romance.

There is some bad people in this book. First there is Peter, the poor boy who grew up wanting more and more. He came up with a plan, and is stealing money from a client, and sleeping with the client's wife, and other women he is fooling. he sure has no scruples, but I can't dislike him, cos he is just such an ass that you just has to like him a bit while disliking him.

Then there is Delilah, who blindly followed him into another man's arms. her I can actually dislike, she is just a fool. Jenny, who Peter uses as a diamond mule, well she is cut from the exact stone as he is, and she can she that she gets played, and her I can respect.  James Campbell is the poor guy Peter steals from, and he is also being played for a fool. Then again he is not that good a person either. Yes you are getting the point by now, this is a cutthroat world and everyone is in it for themselves. They are all asses and they are all playing each other. I get the title when I finished this. This was a big bad web of deceit, and you can never know who to trust.

I actually finished it really quick, it was such an easy read, and of course I tried to find out who the killer was (cos yes someone gets killed, well more than one), but I am so bad at that, and it seems there is also a part 2. You can read just this book, but one murder was left hanging, I have my suspicions, but then I am always wrong.

A book for you mystery, thriller fans out there. Who is the biggest spider in this net, and will Peter get what is coming to him?

This book also had a lot of flashbacks, via them I learned why they did the bad things they did. And some were understandable, not the happiest of bunch is all I can say. And she did have me fooled, the twists kept on coming.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: A bit too simple for me.

Reason for reading: I got the book from the author, in turn for an honest review.

Final thoughts: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive" (Sir Walter Scott)

Review: Very Valentine - Adriana Trigiani

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Genre: Contemporary romance, fiction
Pages: 384
Published: 2009

From the authors site:

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a f amily secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected.

Book Review:

This is a book filled with laughs, sorrow, romance, and the love for your family and the love for shoes. They play a big part in this book and she presents those doing it the old fashioned way. A way that might be forgotten today. It’s the first book in a trilogy but it can be read as a standalone novel. The next book, Brava Valentine is out in February 2010.

Valentine gave up much to make shoes and she loves her job. It is what she was born to do. She a person easy to like for the reader, even if she herself does not always think so. She is the funnyone in her family, not the brain, not the beauty, and that has colored her. But she is in her best element when she is creative and making shoes. But it looks like the company might be going under, and they need help fast. A situation is presented that might give them a chance. She will be able to prove herself and make her family see that this is what she wants and is great at. The Angelini shoe company might live to see another day.

Trigiani knows how to write a compelling book. It has humor in hidden depths and it’s an easy book to read, but a hard book to put down. The family dynamics is real and they argue a lot, but they also love each other fiercely. Everything is not always that easy when it comes to family and love. Her grandmother is my favorite, she has spirit and she has a little story of her own in this book. A sweet story that is not to be missed.

The romance is not easy either in this book. It deals with real life and two very busy people. They hardly have time for each other and their budding romance. Valentine deserves her romance and even if this can be read as a standalone novel it does make you curious what will happen in the next one. How does the romance go, and what about their little shoe company? Because they do make the most remarkable shoes, and I do love shoes, and reading about them.

It’s a warm novel, and she knows what she is doing. She brings in a little of everything into the book so there is something for everyone and all ages. If you want some romance, some smiles, some hard times, and some shoes then this might be a book for you.

 

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: This is what made me pick it up.

Reason for reading: Borrowed from the library

Final thoughts: Nice book that held my attention and made me wonder what next?

Review: The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The Wheel of Time, book 12

Genre: fantasy
Pages: 784
Published: October 2009

Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.

The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan’s editor---his wife, Harriet McDougal---to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.

In this epic novel, Robert Jordan’s international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward---wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders---his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.

Egwene al’Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower---and possibly the world itself.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Magician by Raymond E.Feist may be the best fantasy book ever written, but WOT is the best fantasy series in the world. I know many thought it just keep on going and going, but that only means more for me to love.

When I in 2007  learned that Robert Jordan had passed away I was devastated. Not only cos of selfish reasons (cos that had been my biggest fear even before I heard he was ill), but also because he was a master with what he was doing. And I know he loved his books and his fans. But then I heard that his legacy would go on, because Jordan had until the end kept on working. The chosen person was Brandon Sanderson, who was a big fan of his works (and an accomplished writer). Jordan had left notes, materials, outline, and written sections, and Sanderson filled in the holes. The finished project was huge and later it was realized the book had to be made into 3.

First let me say that I felt like I was reading Robert Jordan own writing, only here and there I noticed Sanderson's voice. Mostly when it came to explanations. Things we knew, but perhaps he wanted to make sure to all that he also knew, then again it had been a while so it was all good. I did not mind. The script is still Jordan's, it just needed a new producer to put it all together. I had been very afraid that I would see too much of Sanderson, but he melted together just fine and put in his own voice. I approved.

Ok spoilers. Not other way to do this!

Rand is still going crazy, oh how I love him! Not to mention Lews Therin. It is getting darker and people around him is staring to loose faith. Egwene is still a prisoner and trying to undermine Elaida's control. I never really liked Egwene really but for some reason I like her now. Elayne was no where to be soon, no Lan either, and no Logain. I really hoped he didn't die and I forgot. Aviendha came by briefly (here I did notice the new writer). Some Mat and Perrin, but not much. Getting a bit annoyed by Mat, I am afraid he will stand with those stupid Seanchan. Oh I despise them, they can't believe in the Forsaken, they treat people who can channel like crap, and if they win in the end I will go insane.

Moraine is really still alive!? Asmodean? I am pretty sure Rand will die :( Oh and Gawyn is an idiot, and don't even get me started on the Children of the Light. Where is Morgause? Get home and talk to Gawyn, please! This world is going to hell even if they win the Last battle. Well at least I still love the Aiel.

That was some of my thoughts while reading, yes I hate a lot of people there, grrr, and I love a great deal too. There is always someone to like and hate. People to root for, and people to hope the Shadow take (*coughs Children of the Light, mostly Galad and The Seanchan*)

This book picked up the pace, and the whole book is one big "The storm is coming, let's make haste and ride up north". I was really enjoying it, things played out, armies moved, people died. Sure they are not at the last battle yet, The Forsaken is still free, there is still wars going on, and the Shadow is causing big ripples in the thread. But they are close, so if the last book is all about the war. Then the second will finally bring everyone together. It has been some time since that.

By the way, Elayne, the babies, shouldn't she be due soon, and oh that will go to hell too. Cos of that idiot everyone thinks is the father. Hopefully Rand will stop by Caemelyn...and perhaps get blinded by Galad or Gawyn? Oh yes I can see that.

This was mostly a post of all the characters, cos how else can I talk about a series I have been reading for 13 years?

This is great fantasy, I love it to pieces, even if I might never read book 15 two times depending on the outcome. Yes Rand is a fictional crazy boyfriend. I love to re-read this series, and this is to me great fantasy, epic fantasy that is so richly created it takes your breath away.

Thank you Brandon Sanderson for doing a great job with this epic legacy.

Robert Jordan -James Oliver Rigney, Jr.- (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007)

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Not liking it at all. If you look closely you can see how rich her make-up is, and to say this nicely, well she looks like a lady of the night, perhaps Rand destroyed a brothel.

Reason for Reading. My own copy, have been waiting for 3 years to read it.

Final thoughts: LOVE IT. WOT is fantasy at its best.