So, it's August already. Yikes! July was certainly a busy month for me. Between the World Cup, starting a new job and a 10 day sick leave, life was interesting....
So I've decided to make a sort of small recap of the books I read during this month:
1) I finished
Lisa McMann's Vision series, by reading
"Gasp". The series was very entertaining. I like how Lisa writes, specially her tendency to discuss issues about mental health. However, I feel that it needed a little more sustenance once approached, since we really are left completely in the dark regarding how a forced sort of happily ever after occurs. Beyond that, I loved its paranormal plot: visions of an impeding catastrophe that hasn't happened: an accident (Crash, the first book), a shooting (Bang book #2) and a shipwreck (Gasp, book #3). The end twist that explains everything is not exactly what I expected, but it did make sense :) Such cool stories make my reading life happy.
2)
Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre. My extended review will be published tomorrow on the Blog, but in the meantime: it was hard to chew, but tasted beautifully in the end.
3)
Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryant. *Applause*. I had downloaded this book for free on Amazon, since I am a sucker for those Kindle freebies, but usually never end up reading... not enough time, what was I thinking, the usual blah blah blah. Anyways, I gave this one a chance and was just hooked from the moment I started. The cover is so very attractive and creepy. And the plot: a girl who spreads a deadly plague with her touch!!! Arrghhh. It was gory, scary and it sucker punched me.
I had just finished Mortal Danger, which focuses on bullying, thus this new take on this social phenomena was perfect for my mind. I was awed. When I was done, I purchased right away the whole series. Horror + paranormal + romance + great female characters = take my money. It's very very smart and detailed. I would classify it for maturer YA audiences. This book is NOT PRETTY! It is cruel, vicious and truly, really addictive.
I'm 38% done with the second book, Tommy Nightmare, since I had to stop because I was really having nightmares >_<
4
) Storms of Lazarus by Karen Quincy. I am so happy that I got the chance to support the Kickstarter project for this and the previous book, Shadows of Asphodel. This book gave me the closure I was craving regarding our sexy Necromancer and kickass Mercenary. I was craving this Happily Ever After and I got it. Bonus point: it mentions a couple of vampires!
5) Half Bad by Sally Green. The moment I started reading I couldn't stop! The opening chapters somehow reminded me of Cassel, the main character from Holly Black's series the
Curse Workers. Perhaps it was the intense descriptions, focus and determination... I don't know. What I do know is that the world in which Nathan, the main character of Half Bad lives is seriously messed up. Worst. It's in the real-present-world. This book is about people who have magic, but it is divided in black (evil) and white (good). Very deterministic world, however, Nathan, being a half back/white magic person, raised in the white magic world experiences first hand how this dualistic view is not as simple as it seems. He is bullied, subjected to both verbal and physical violence, at some point becomes homeless, and ultimately begins his story on a cage. So yeah. Not a sunshine-feel-good kind of story.
6) I finished the month reading
Suzy Turner's the Raven Saga trilogy. I received these eBooks as a prize for the different events programmed by this year's Armchair BEA. I needed a bit of a feel good series that was easy to read for my sicky days. The books were not good, but not entirely bad; that's why I kept reading them. Also, I didn't want to invest any emotional attachments to a book during my recuperation. So they where the perfect consolation. But just dully written: info dumps, insta loves, no surprises, almost every character was oh so caring, wonderful, respectful and their voices were almost the same, predictable and super cheesy *yawn*! The only great thing about these books was the setting (and some vampires). The books are set mostly in British Columbia, yay! I lived in Vancouver for a while so it was nice to read about all those familiar places.
7) I read the first 3 stories from the anthology:
Find What You Love and Let it Kill You by Thomm Quackenbush. They were good, scary and sweet. I think I will savour them slowly. Love deserves this pace.
In sum, I think I had an overdose of bullying on my July readings, a few vampires and some good (sad and not so greatly written) Happily ever afters. I must say I am satisfied.
