Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her (barnesandnoble.com).



Rachel Hawkins has got it goin' on! This is her debut novel and what a way to start! I ate this book up and am hungry for more!

From the very beginning I liked the MC, Sophie. She starts the book out by doing something nice for someone, only to have it backfire. Poor girl. Then she has to go to a run-down reform school for other "gifted" teenagers. I love Sophie's sense of humor and I really love that she would rather be friends with a vampire because the vampire is a good person than chose to be apart of the "In" crowd just to be cool.

I really like Archer's character but I kept wanting to suddenly find out that he was dating Elodie for some other reason than he liked her. I was in the same boat as Sophie on that one.

Cal...sigh. How can I like a character that was hardly in the book? Well, I keep thinking he is going to play a major role in the future. I think he might be the one chosen for Sophie to marry (remember the arranged marriage convo?). Am I crazy? Maybe. But, I definitely think he is at the school to protect Sophie. I can't wait to see what comes of that!

Speaking of what's to come...What's going to happen with Archer? What about the ending? The ending is crazy good.

The writing is really great, each chapter's end makes you beg for more, the mystery keeps things interesting and Sophie's personality and love intrigues make the book memorable. Can't wait to read the next book in the series, Demonglass!

Overall:5/5



Fabulous cover also!

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of bestselling series the Mortal Instruments (Barnesandnoble.com).

So I am pretty sure this was supposed to be the last book in The Mortal Instruments series but there are now going to be at least three more books in the series. Book four will be out in 2011, book five in 2012 and book six in 2013. I am kind of excited to see how the rest of the series goes!

I thought that this was the last book when I was reading it and some things happened leaving it open for another book in the series so I am really happy there is going to be another book. Book four is called City of Fallen Angels. I read the sneak peak and it is awesome!

Back to City of Glass...It was intense, it was awesome. I really need some new adjectives.

Spoiler Alert:

We find out that Clary and Jace really are not brother and sister. Yay! But she still did kiss her brother. I hate to say this again but what's up with that? Did she really have to kiss her brother? He knew he was her brother too. I think he is love with her or something but not in a brother and sister kind of way. It's a little demented. I guess he is part demon...

End of Spoiler Alert.

This book has action, romance, some humor and great characters. I really like Jace, Isabelle, Alec and Magnus. I like Clary's character but I get kind of annoyed how she can't ever really fight. She does have some other abilities that are cool but I like a main character that can fight. That's just personal preference though. Oh, and I like Simon too. He's turning into a little player.

I am expecting to see more of the Downworlders in the next books. More of the faeries and vampires. It's going to be great.

This book is rad (working on my adjectives) and if you haven't read this series you definitely should!

Overall:5/5

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation (Barnesandnoble.com).

I totally love this cover, cool hair. So this is the second book in The Mortal Instruments (TMI) series and it was awesome. I would say that it wasn't quite as good as City of Bones but still really good.

Clary and Jace are still torturing us in this one as they are still bro and sis. What's up with that? Some really interesting thing happen because of it though! And we meet Valentine in this one. For some reason I really want him to be good. I know that he's done bad things but he's Clary and Jace's dad. I want it to be some mistake that he seems so evil. Just like I keep trying to figure out some way for Jace and Clary not to be brother and sister.

The ending had me in a vice and I had to immediately read City of Glass. This series really reminds me of the Harry Potter series but more adult. It's really good. It'll suck you in.

Overall: 5/5

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction (Barnesandnoble.com)

When I read the title of this book I thought, "Hmm, that doesn't sound very good". But, I read good reviews on it so I thought I would check it out. It was really good! The story line was a little predictable at times, but at other times I had no idea what was going to happen. It was very well written and I liked the plot and ending. It's nice to read about a main character who is a size 10.

One of the best aspects of the book was Lucius's take on America. Every few chapters Lucius writes a letter to his uncle for the reader to read. He is from Romania and it's really funny when he writes to his uncle about the things that he finds annoying or strange about American culture. There were some very hilarious things that I won't give away but one of my favorite topics was his dislike of the vegan lifestyle (he is a vampire after all).

I really liked the times that Jessica would stick up for herself. At the beginning of the book, we find out that Jessica is 17 years old. But, to me she seemed so young. I didn't really like her character at times but I enjoyed reading about her the more the book went on. I the middle of the book she begins to pine for Lucius even though he's dating some one else, and I was thinking, "Come on. Get over it." I know that she had strong feelings for him but to watch her put herself out there, time after time and get rejected? It was sad.

The ending was really good. I wonder if Jake and Mindy get together in the end? Great story. I loved reading it.


Overall: 4/5

Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville... (Amazon.com).

I love the cover on this one! I think it's Claire. She is so pretty and I lover her hair!

I really like the Morganville Vampire Series. This is the eighth book in the series. In the seventh book, there wasn't too much that went wrong. In books one through six, the main characters went against all odds--everything went wrong but they fought back. In book eight, things went back to that trend. There was a lot of action. My favorite part, believe it or not, was the epilogue! It made me look forward to book nine, which doesn't come out until October 26th, 2010. The first couple of chapters can be read here, though.

This was not my favorite book of the series. It was a total sidetrack but I guess it might play a role in the end of the series or next books. Honestly, I think the series is dragging out a little too much for my taste but I still enjoy reading it. I am really interested in how it will end.

Overall: 4/5

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong...

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever (Amazon.com).

There are not enough words to praise this book and the Vampire Academy series. It's so, so good. I stumbled upon the series by chance and I am so glad I did. Spirit Bound is the fifth book in the VA series. It was a kind of roller-coaster of action and emotions for the MC, Rose. There were some things that happened that I think a lot of readers, at this point in the series, are really happy about. I am happy about somethings that happened. But...what an ending. OMG!! It's a pretty unexpected cliff hanger. I can't wait to see what happens in the sixth, and final, book. I am excited for the summer but if I could fast forward to December 14th, I just might. This series is my favorite and it's definitely worth a read, or two.

The whole book is terrific. Richelle Mead is a great writer and you can easily get lost in her books for hours. I can't really say more. It was awesome and I didn't really expect less.

One last note: Team Dimitri or Team Adrian?

Overall: 5/5

Fade Out by Rachel Caine

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected (Amazon.com).

I love the Morganville Vampire series. This is book number seven in the series and it wasn't what I was expecting. In the earlier books, I was getting a little annoyed because anything and everything was going wrong for the four main characters. It seemed nothing good could ever happen to them. But I really liked how this seventh book was a little different. It seems that things are taking a turn in Morganville.

What I didn't like was that it was a little slow moving for a while, as far as the plot was concerned. Little things were happening here and there but I kept wondering, "Okay, what's the catch? What is the plot?". But when I finally got to the plot I was intrigued and I couldn't figure out how it was going to end. I love that. It ended great! I keep thinking there is going to be another romance thrown in there and I can't wait to read the next installment to see if I'm right. I really enjoy this series. It's got action, the main character is smart (I really like when the MC is smart), there's some romance and some mystery. It's worth checking out, even if you're not into vampire books.

Overall: 4/5