Review: Claire de Lune (ARC) by Christine Johnson

Title: Claire de Lune
Author: Christine Johnson
Hardcover: 352 pages
Published: May 2010
Reading Level: YA
My copy: Peace, Love and Pat ARC Tour
My rating: 4 out of 5 wicked hearts

 Blurb (from amazon.com):

Torn between two destinies?

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?. 

My thoughts...

What an awesomely unique book on werewolves and pack dynamics!  This books shakes up what you thought you knew about werewolves, in Claire's world...everyone knows they exist although she certainly doesn't know anyone that is one.  Or at least that's what she thinks until on her 16th birthday she starts the change and her mom drops the bomb....yup, werewolf.  She is in the process of changing but will take 3 full moons (3 months) to completely change 100%.  At first Claire is freaked, her life is over and she can't believe this is happening to her...and just when she starts dating the perfect guy.  Well, he was perfect until she found out she's a werewolf and his Dad happens to the leader of the anti-werewolf party that wants them locked up some they can experiment on them.  As Claire gets more in tune with her werewolf self she opens up to the possibilities and wants to be a part of the group to find and stop the rogue werewolf that is killing people in her town.

The books starts out interesting but a little slow as you get to know the characters and let them evolve to a point where you know where the plot is leading you.  I wasn't totally shocked by the ending, but I have to admit that the last 1/3 of the book was pretty action packed and I couldn't put it down.  It definitely kept my interest and I look forward to reading the next in the series, or at least I hope there is one, I haven't seen anything definite on that.

Review: Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Title: Jekel Loves Hyde
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Hardcover: 288 pages
Reading Level: YA
Published: May 2010
My Copy: International Book Tour
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 wicked stars

Blurb (from Amazon.com):

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules—especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she’s tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything—even Tristen’s love—just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

My thoughts...

I have seen a few reviews on this book, going from "I love it" to "embarrassingly bad"..and hey, to each their own.  I fell somewhere in the middle on this one.  I liked the book, I thought the idea of a story based on the descendants of Jekyll/Hyde was an interesting one and the characters didn't grate on my nerves.  The story is told from alternating points of view, Jill and Tristen, so I kind of feel with that...I didn't get as involved in the one character as I wanted to.  The mystery of not knowing what the other is thinking is fun for me.

Jill Jekel is a nerdy, timid science nut that has never really had a boyfriend.  She connects with Tristen Hyde over a science project where first prize would win a $30,000 scholarship.  Tristen is an aloof, good looking outsider (by his choice) that agrees with help Jill on the project for his own reasons...he believes that the "Hyde monster" lives inside him and has made him do terrible things in the past.  He believes Jill has the solution to his problem, literally, in the form of a potion created from the notes of Dr. Jekyll.

I found this a quick and interesting read based on a storyline that is unique. I would have wished for maybe more character development to enroll me into their lives more, but that didn't stop me from reading it pretty quickly. If you enjoy dark, quirky, science-nerd type stories, check it out on May 3rd when it is released!

Review: The Body Finder (ARC) by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Hardcover: 336 pages
Published: March 2010
Reading Level: YA
My Copy: Book It Forward ARC Tours
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 wicked stars

Blurb (from Amazon.com):

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself. 

My thoughts...

The Body Finder is an intense thriller with a sweet romance woven in.  I finished this book pretty quickly because I wanted to get to the end! While it was predictable in some spots, it wasn't in others so it keep my attention until the end.  Violet has an ability to sense when something has died (and I think that it is mostly tragic and/or sudden deaths) by an echo that they emit...and it affects her deeply until that body is put to rest.  This is something she inherited from her Grandmother so her family is accepting of this oddity of Violets and trusts her judgment.

When Violet finds a body at the lake and other girls closer to home start disappearing she wanting to help find the killer, because those that kill emit an echo of their own that is similar to the person/thing they killed.  Of course getting involved in the search also had a tendency to put the spotlight on yourself, so you can imagine the trouble she gets in with that.  Mixed in all the murders and bodies is the intense attraction she has started feeling to her best friends for years, Jay.  Convinced that he doesn't feel the same, Violet is tormented by being around him when she is missing all the signs he is giving her.

I really enjoyed this book and finished reading it pretty fast.  Kimberly Derting has the sequel coming out in 2011 titled Desires of the Dead, and I can't wait to read it!  If you haven't picked this up, do...it is a great mystery/romance and you will love it!

Wicked Bunny 100 Follower Contest Winners!

YAY! The scary bunny has left (finally!) and turned my 100 followers contest into a 200+ followers contest! That means 4 winners!

Winner #1 (picks 2 books): Christa @ Words Roll Ever On and On

Winner #2 (picks 2 books): Linz @ Linz Reads

Winner #3(picks 1 book): Tabby

Winner #4 (picks 1 book): Allison @ Allison's Book Reviews

Christa has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond. As soon as I hear from her, I will email Linz with the list of remaining books and so on.  Thanks everyone for entering the contest, I hope you enjoy your books!

Review: My Soul to Keep (ARC) by Rachel Vincent

 

Title: My Soul to Keep

Author: Rachel Vincent

Published: June 2010

Paperback: 304 pages

Reading Level: YA

My copy: Rec'd from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

My rating: 4 out of 5 wicked stars

 Blurb (from Netgalley.com):

Kaylee and Nash discover that one of his football teammates is addicted to Demon's Breath, a dangerous Netherworld substance that shouldn't even be available in the human world. To save their friends from insanity--and possibly death--they must figure out how the Demon's Breath got into their world and somehow dispose of it, as well as cutting off the supply--without socially alienating themselves. And in the course of their investigation, Kaylee discovers a deeper plot by a powerful Netherworld demon to open a path between the worlds and pull humans into the Netherworld so that he can steal their souls and imprison their bodies. Along the way, she also discovers someone close to her has been hiding a deadly addiction as well... 

My thoughts...

My Soul to Keep is the 3rd in the Soul Screamers series and to get the background on the characters, I would recommend you reading My Soul to Take and My Soul to Save.  In this third book, Kaylee and Nash are trying to save their friends from the toxic, addictive substance referred to as Demon's Breath that is being passed around their school.  Friends are falling victim to this drug and Kaylee is determined to figure out how it is getting into her world since there are not many people that can go back and forth carrying it.

I enjoyed this book as much as the two before it, still feeling frustrated at times because of Kaylee's stubbornness to never get help from those people that are older and wiser.  That being said, this book shakes up friendships, relationships and thoughts you had about main characters.  The book jumps from one drama-filled situation to another while they are trying to get to the bottom of Demon's Breath so it is easy to get sucked in and be unable to put the book down!

I did like being surprised in the way the book shook up Kaylee's world and I have to say I looked at one of the characters in a new light.  I won't tell you who, so I can keep this review spoiler free, but it makes me wonder if Rachel has him in the running romantically speaking for book 4.  YAY Team...oh I can't tell you!  ha ha

Book 4 is titled My Soul to Steal and is coming out January 2011.

Book Blogger Hop (2) !!

It's Friday and time for the Book Blogger Hop!  What is this craziness you ask? Well it was started by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books and this is what she says...

This is a weekly event where book bloggers and readers can connect to  find new blogs to read. Its a great way to network with other bloggers  and make new friends! Every day I seem to find another book blog that I  start following . In the spirit of the Friday Follow I thought it would  be cool to do a Book Blogger Hop to give us all bookies a chance to  connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also  give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not  know existed!

Have you SEEN the CONTEST CRAZE going on over at Princess Bookie??

 It is CRAZY today!  She is giving away tons of books...and these are the good books that you have been dying to have...and some that you maybe haven't heard of but will now definitely want to read!

Head over there and check it out!

Princess Bookie Contest Craze

100 Followers Contest Update!

Well the Wicked Bunny and come and gone and left me with an additional 98 followers! Yippee!  That means 2 more winners (one for 150 and one for 200 because I am thinking optimistically!) get to pick a book each and I am adding some more to the pile to chose from!  Here are all the books for the contest to date:





And ARC's of the following books:




So far we have Winner 1 picking 2 books, Winner 2 picking 2 books, Winner 3 picking 1 book, and Winner 4 picking 1 book.

Contest ends Friday, April 16th at 9 pm CST, so go HERE for the contest details!

Top 6 Books that have blown me away in 2010!

I thought I would share with you (and enter La Femme Readers awesome contest!) my top 6 favorite reads of 2010! Sorry for the funkiness of the formatting but Amazon.com doesn't have the cover of the Iron Daughter yet...which threw me off, ha ha.

So what were your favorite reads of the year so far?