Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Publisher: Definitions
Publication Date: May 27, 2011
Genre: young adult







Goodreads Description:
She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.



*may contain spoilers*
There are lots of things good and bad that can be said about this book. I can honestly say that it was daring and thought provoking in many aspects. It was breathtaking. It's a love story and a tragedy. Like Romeo and Juliet to a degree - starcrossed lovers with situations, environment, and morals bent on ending or preventing their love. I know it really shouldn't be love in a romantic sense.

Lochan, 17, and Maya, 16, have been thrown together in the parental roles of caring for themselves and their youger siblings. Lochan and Maya must care for their younger siblings: Kit - 13, Tiffin - 8, and Willa - 5. Their father has left and their alcoholic mother is there less than half the time. These things have forced these self-sacrificing kids into a love that is forbidden. Would they have felt this way if their father had stayed or their mother was a sober, loving mother? Maybe....maybe not. Maya and Lochan know their love is wrong and they fight it.

The physical pain that Lochan and Maya felt - I felt while reading their story. The ending was unpredictable. Somehow I knew I wouldn't get the ending that I wanted even if it was wrong. Really who is to say who we can love and can't love. I loved the kids from the get go. They were funny, loveable, worriesome, and a handful all put upon Maya and Lochan.

Tabitha Suzuma wrote a great story. The writing is wonderful and reads very well with alternating points of view going between Maya and Lochan. This gives us the feelings of both characters and the struggle that they are going through.

Review: The Mephisto Covenant

Title: The Mephisto Covenant
Author: Trinity Faegan
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: September 27, 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

"If the Mephisto can earn love and return it selflessly,
God promises peace in their angry, restless souls.
The caveat: Only the Ananbo, decendants of the daughter of Eve,
Are pure enough of spirit to love a son of hell...."

From Goodreads:
Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.
A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?
My thoughts
Great book.  I think I like most of the books I read though!  I really enjoyed Sasha and Jax.  Jax must keep Sasha protected from his oldest brother Eryx.  Sasha is Anabo.  This means she is pure, kind, and will automatically get into heaven.  Jax is a son of Hell but he can get redemption through the Mephisto Covenant.  Anabos are rare and it is a huge thing that Jax is demon hunting and finds Sasha at a meeting to gain followers for Eryx.  He realizes she is Anabo even though she doesn't know.  He was the first to her so to put it bluntly - he has dibs on her (: but it is her decision to give up her mortality and join Jax forever.  A great love story, full of suspense, and action. Jax's brother are amazing and sooo funny.  I can's wait to read about them finding the loves of their lives and their redemption.

Review: Seers

Title: Seers

Author: Heather Frost
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Publication Date: October 3, 2011
Genre: Young Adult
Source: netgalley






Goodreads Description:
For Kate Bennet, surviving the car wreck that killed her parents means big changes and even bigger problems. As she begins to see auras and invisible people, Kate must learn to trust Patrick O'Donnell, a handsome Guardian, or risk her life being overrun with Demons. She soon realizes that both she and her heart are in big-time trouble.

My thoughts:
Kate can see auras and invisible people after a recent car accident that killed both her parents and left her and her twin sisters to be taken care of by their grandparents. Patrick is a Guardian sent to protect her and teach her the ways of being a Seer, which is what she is. There is an instant attraction between the two, but Kate already has a boyfriend, Aaron (who is very sweet and caring but a little naïve in my opinion). Other characters in the story are Grandpa, Grandma, the twins, Lee (Kate’s best friend), and Toni (Patrick’s partner). Demons seem to be after Kate for some reason and it is up to Patrick to protect her.

I loved the story and read it in two days. Kate is a strong character that has been through a lot. The only time I was really getting upset at her was when she kept denying her feelings and the attraction that was between her and Patrick. Patrick could be my hero anytime. He was a favorite of mine.

In My Mailbox {5}

Meme hosted by The Story Siren

September 5, 2011 - September 11, 2011

Details:

Books that I have won, bought, or recieved from various other places.

Bought from Borders:

 

 

Received for Review from Librarything Early Reviewers:

Bought from Ollies:

Bought from Books A Million:

 I really need to stop buying books...I have so many to read and with school in full swing and my classes harder this semester than they have been I don't have much time :(

BUT...I sneak it in every chance I get even when I shouldn't!

Review: The Sleepwalkers

Title:  The Sleepwalkers
Author: J. Gabriel Gates
Publisher:  HCI Teens
Publication Date:  October 3, 2011
Genre:  Young Adult/Horror/Paranormal
Pages:  360 pages
Source:  netgalley

Goodreads Description:
A chilling and masterfully crafted teen horror novel guaranteed to keep the pages turning, the mind reeling, and the lamp on any reader's bedside table on long after midnight. Privileged and popular Caleb Mason is celebrating his high school graduation when he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate, Christine. Caleb and his jokester friend Bean decide to travel to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her. Upon arrival, they discover the town has taken a horrifying turn for the worse. Caleb's childhood home is abandoned and his father has disappeared. Children are going missing. The old insane asylum has reopened, and Christine is locked inside. Her mother, a witch, is consumed with madness, and Christine's long-dead twin sister whispers clues to Caleb through the static of an a.m. radio. The terrifying prophesies of the spirits are coming to pass. Sixteen clocks are ticking; sixty-six murdered souls will bring about the end of the world. As Caleb peels back layer after layer of mystery, he uncovers a truth more horrible than anything he had imagined, a truth that could only be uttered by the lips of the dead.

My thoughts:
First off I have to say as a teenager I loved to read Dean Koontz and John Saul.  They were great storytellers to a young girl.  I can recall staying up late (as I still do now) trying to figure out the ending and wanting to find out what happens.  As I was reading The Sleepwalkers by J. Gabriel Gates my mind kept thinking I was in the middle of a John Saul book.  Suffer the Children, Cry for the Strangers, The God Project, and Nathaniel all great books that had me in the grips of chills and The Sleepwalkers was the same way.  This is a good thing in my opinion.  John Saul is a great writer.

Caleb Mason has just graduated high school and has big dreams of becoming a newspaper editor for a large newspaper or magazine.  To do this he is going to go to Africa and write about the AIDS crisis.  His plans, however, change when he recieves a letter from an old childhood friend, Christine.  He makes his way to his old childhood hometown of Hudsonville, FL with his best friend, Bean.  Planning to stay with his father who he hasn't seen in years, he is suprised to find his old home uninhabited and his father missing.  Now he has a mystery on his hands in finding his father and helping Christine.  From here things just get creepy.  People have been disappearing for years and no one seems to care and if they do then they disappear too.

It seems an evil entity is working on bringing about the end of the world and ruling it but must have sixty-six murdered souls.  Caleb, Bean, and Christine have to stop the people in the Dream Center because that seems where all the evil is coming from.  They have the help of Anna, Christine's twin sister who is dead, speaking through an a.m. radio and Ron, a man who is searching for his daughter that has disappeared like so many other. 

My favorite character was Bean.  He was funny and always lightened the mood.  Bean's humor and Caleb's seriousness compliment each other.  The ending was a huge shock.  I didn't see it coming.  The Sleepwalkers kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it and I thoroughly enjoyed being creeped out!