Book Review - Eternal Kiss of Darkness

*Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost
Published by Avon
361 pages



Most anything by Jeaniene Frost is all right by me.

This story is a spin-off from her original Night Huntress series with Cat and Bones, and it's the second in delving deeper into the side characters lives, but stands on its own.

Aside from the horrible, fake-blood-on-the-neck cover, this book deals with Mencheres (which I wish I knew how to pronounce properly) and a PI named Kira Graceling.  She happens upon Mencheres as he's being cornered by ghouls and being tortured to death.  Wait a minute, he's a mega-master vampire, remember?

She tries to rescue him, and their adventures begin.  Kira is a very strong personality, which entices Mencheres.  He is used to subservience in all who encounter him, which Kira isn't aware of, and wouldn't put up with it if she was.

I don't know why I had in my mind as Mencheres being a much older, distinguished gentleman, but instead we find him an early 20s, hip gentleman.  We see Cat and Bones a time or two in this book and Vlad, but the other characters from the original are missing.

Overall I enjoyed this.  I did skim through some of the dark magic ritual used toward the end since that isn't my cup of tea.  If you like Miss Frost's work, you won't be disappointed in this one.

*This book contains adult content.

Book Review - Torment - YA

Torment by Lauren Kate
Published by Delacorte Books
452 pages



I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I plodded through it but began skimming the last 50 pages.  I set it down to read other things, and in the interim, didn't really care if I picked it up again.

The book seems too formulaic.  Bad guy, good guy (or angel as the case may be).  Rude girl, questioning naive girl.  Really, how many times can you be almost killed and still not follow simple directions?

So, this book leaves off where Fallen ended, Luce is now at a new school for Nephilim taught by good angel/bad angel lovers where she finds friends Miles and Shelby.  She is questioning her love loop with Daniel, foolishly disobeys anything anyone tells her because of course, she knows better.

Sorry for the snark.

Not much else to say about this.  I felt like there was a lot of filler.  I will read the third (or try to anyway), because at the end of this "Torment," something finally starts happening, so I do have hopes for the next book, as dismal as I felt this one was.  I don't have hope for Luce growing up, though, but maybe we'll find out why Daniel even likes her in the first place.

Book Review - Night Runner - YA

Night Runner by Max Turner
Published by St. Martin's Griffin
261 pages




I picked up this book at the library knowing nothing about it.  I am glad I did.

I know, I know, you all have had enough of vampire books lately.  When I began to read it, I didn't even realize that's what it was.

I really enjoyed this book.  Teenaged Zach is a patient at a mental ward for the last eight years; both his parents are dead.  He enjoys his life there, sleeps during the day being allergic to the sun, allergic to food, and his favorite nurse, Nurse Ophelia, in the ward fixes him special smoothies.  He runs for hours at a time on the treadmill and reads.  Until an invincible appearing man crashes into the front of the ward on a motorcycle and tells Zach to run.

Zach was an extremely interesting character.  He had a different voice than anything I've read in a while.  He is a funny character without meaning to be.  He's a contented mental patient, but turns out to be completely normal...just not in the way you'd expect.  I like the way he thinks, and the pages kept turning easily for me. 

Another plus for me was not knowing who to trust.  There was nothing predictable about any of the characters.  Once you thought you had someone figured out, you are thrown for a loop.  I loved the twists in the plot.  A part or two at the ending became a bit gruesome for me, but I am a wimp, and others might not even blink at it.

This is supposed to be the first in an upcoming series, but I noticed this book was written a while back, so I'll have to check if there are others printed in this series.  The ending was satisfying if no other books come out, but enough story left to continue on with Zach's life.

What kids are reading

You know your child, or if you are still a youth, or have young family members, think about where you set the bar at reading ability.  Everyone has a different rate of development, cognitive, emotional and physical maturity.  Some kids have a tough time reading Are You My Mother, others fly through the Hobbit in a week, but reading is important regardless of age.  Read to your kids!  Let them pick books to read to you.

Here's a sentence in a book that my 9 and 11 year old boys read:

The chasm emptied into an even more enormous chamber, at the center of which was a gigantic geodesic sphere that was sheathed in smooth hexagonal plates, which emitted an eerie white radiance.*

 How's that for reading material?  Don't think your kids can't handle larger vocabulary and topics.  This is so individualized, I hestitate to make any bold statements.  But unless they read, how will they learn vocab in context, sentence structure, proper punctuation, subject matter, communication, and the list goes on! 

Knowledge is power, and that power comes through learning, learning comes through reading.  Read on!

*
Cursed of the black hole pirates,  Star Wars – the clone wars, secret missions 2

Where to find a good review

I hope one day to make this site more prolific, which is tough right now with young ones biting my ankles.  So here's a few more sites you might like to visit that have some nice books reviews on.

New York Times review - Of course, many love to see what's on the NY Times bestseller lists.

Becky's Book Review - I really enjoy her blog site, good reviews.

Goodreads - More than just reviews, it's all books and authors and friends.  Think a bit like facebook for the reading geeks.  I live here.

Teen Books Forum - You don't need to be a teen to visit this forum, just if you like YA.  Not full reviews mostly, but chat about your favorites.

Young Adult Book Reviews - Just found this one, but it has a nice, simple set up.

Remember, though, that reviews can be so subjective.  I have found that book jackets and what the book is actually about can vary widely.  Sometimes there's just such a generic feel about the book and you're not sure you'll like it, then is a good time to read a review.  But I never just read one, always a few, and you'll see what one person may hate, others will love, so don't give up on something just from a review.  Most reviewers keep to the basic storyline and why they liked or disliked the book, rather than giving spoilers away, and if so, a "spoilers" blurb is likely to be mentioned.

Keep on reading!

Book Review - Firelight - YA

Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Published by Harper Teen
323 pages




I had great hopes for this book as it was such a different premise as to what's currently out there.

Jacinda is a Draki, a dragon who manifests herself as human. Her mother leaves their tribe with Jacinda and her non-Draki twin sister, with the hope of letting the Draki within Jacinda die out so she will no longer be coveted by the pride since she is the only fire breather, and valued for breeding purposes.  The circumstances were Jacinda and a friend went out after hours and Jacinda was almost caught by the dragon hunters, and a boy named Will among them had found her hiding in a cave and let her go.

They move to a desert area so dry Jacinda is having a difficult manifesting to Draki, per her mother's hopes. There at school, she meets again Will, dragon hunter, who keeps her Draki alive within her for some reason.

Most of this book seems to take place in Jacinda's head. She decides to be with Will, then not. She'll see him, then not. Ad infinitum. Her mom and sister are incredibly unaware of what is happening with Jacinda, or seem to care that she is Draki, and very selfish, yet though Jacinda is staying there for her family, she is a bit selfish as well. I like Jacinda's spirit, but she was too indecisive.

The book dragged quite a bit, and not much happening.  She likes Will and should she be with him, but her reasons for the attraction are very nebulous.  The ending was left wide open for the second in the series to begin. This is a difficult book to review. I liked it and I didn't. I might come back later and rework some thoughts.

My reading list

If you haven't noticed, I mostly wind up reading Young Adult.  Years back, books usually fell into the category of children's or adult.  Now we have children's, middle grade, young adult, and adult.  There is discussion in the publishing world of starting a new category for college age.  There is a whole category of material that writers are trying to get published in the 18- to 25-year-old age range, that is either too young for adult or too old for YA.  These are the category of books I also find interesting.  Perhaps I stopped maturing at 22!

Anyhow, I don't like books with some of the harder adult themes and YA books are usually a bit tamer on that front.  Plus, firsts are interesting.  First love, first adventure, first job, and the list goes on.  So I read a bit of everything, but seem to gravitate back to YA.  I also dabble in writing a bit, and that's my preferred genre.

But, on my desk this week are:

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Torment by Lauren Kate
The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Keep on reading!