Review: God Save the Queen

Title: God Save the Queen
Author: Kate Locke
Series: The Immortal Empire #1
Publisher: Orbit
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC

The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.

My thoughts: 

I thought this was a really interesting book! I really enjoyed the world building and the development of the creatures. Locke described it kind of like an evolution and the royal families evolved into the vampires that they are in the present time in God Save the Queen. It’s a very unique take on a world with vampires, werewolves, faeries, goblins and half bloods of everything in between!

I do have to say that Xandra is a pretty awesome main character! She’s part of the royal guard and had devoted her life to protecting the members of the aristocrat. She’s also a halvie so in her case she is half vampire and half human. Or is she? In the beginning of the book, one of her sisters, who has been at Bedlam, the mental institution, has gone missing and it sends Xandra on a mission and she ends up uncovering a lot of secrets about her family and the royals.

Looking for her sister brings her to meeting a very hot werewolf and I believe he is the leader of the werewolves of Scotland. This book became very confusing for me because I didn’t know there was a glossary of terms in the back. Soon, they get to know each other very well and they become lovers which I expected to be really fun because I thought this was an adult novel. But the author just skips right over all the sexy times. I’ve read some YA novels that were more graphic than God Save the Queen.

I also thought the cover was very misleading. The girl on the front is totally decked out in awesome steampunk cloths yet the steampunk is very minimal in the book. I expected more of a Girl in the Steel Corset (same author) feel but it definitely wasn’t there. I really enjoyed the vampire skulls on the cover; those are really awesome!

Overall, I was just a little disappointed. The cover and synopsis of God Save the Queen gave me expectations that were not met in the story. But the world building was interesting enough that I gave it 3 hearts because I will probably continue the series to find out what happened with the characters!

Waiting on Wednesday (35)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Unleashed
Authors: Nancy Holder & Debbie Voguie
Hitting the Shelves: November 22, 2011

When Katelyn starts her new school, the only person she knows is the handsome and intriguing Trick Sokolov, an acquaintance of her grandfather.  She's surprised when the popular Cordelia Fenner invites her home and when she meets Cordelia's hot brother, she begins to things her new life might be okay after all.  But as she spends time with the family, she realizes that the Fenners are harboring a deep, dark secret.  Every bone in Katelyn's body tells her that the Fenners are mad, bad and dangerous to know--but how can she give up her only friend, and how can she ignore the way Justin set her blood on fire with a single look?  Katelyn finds herself caught between three major werewolf clans who have been at war with each other for centuries--a war, it seems, that Katelyn is destined to end. 

What are you waiting for? 

Review- Hex Hall

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall #1
Publisher: Hyperion Book
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

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--en 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 student on campus.  Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number one suspects.

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.  

My thoughts: 

Hex Hall was a really fun read and a cute series that I can't wait to finish.  The aspect I enjoyed most about this book is the boarding school.  I love books that take place in boarding schools because there aren't any parents to have to worry about, there's only a few teachers and not all that many chaperons and a lot of crazy things can happen.

I also like that there is a mix of supernatural beings in this book and they all seem to get along, more or less.  But I would think that there would be crazier things happening since they are all attending the school  because they've been unable to control their powers.  So in the beginning, you have the normal antics of high school, the mean girls picking on the new girl and so on.  But then things start to get interesting when other students start making innuendos about Sophie's dad, three other girls practically force her to join their coven and her classmates are almost being murdered.

I really enjoy books that bring family history into the characters.  Sophie's family history is rich with extremely dark magic that has effected her whole hereditary!  Even by the end of the book, we've only scratched the surface of what has happened in the past leaving much more to be discovered in coming books.  There's also so much mystery and action going on that it left me wanting to read Demonglass right away!

Although it was a little surfacey and shallow, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read.

True Blood: Book to Show Comparison

Hello everyone, it's Alyson and like I said before, from now on the comparison posts are going to go from episode to episode.

So last weeks episode was good. It didn't hold that much drama as other episodes, which sometimes is a good thing. I am going to tell you about what I like and didn't like about this episode.

Starting with all the witching stuff that is going on: I like it. They doing a good job of not making it too weird. Lafayette and his boyfrind also always give me a good crack up sometimes. I really enjoy seeing what happens next between the two of them. Also speaking of, Tara and her girlfriend, they seem to be making a cute couple. Two tough girls who can help each other out; it's nice. But how funny was the bantering when Pam shows up at the end to attack them. I thought it was funny that first off they thought they could run fast enough to get away, then they thought they had enough time to banter with each other before they started to run. And Pam just cracks me up. I feel sorry for her right now because she is rotting away.

Again I don't like Bill, he is being an ass hole. For him to say that Eric is dangerous and needed to be killed was so annoying. Eric is just lonely and scared and for Bill to take advantage of that and go against Sookie is really making me mad. At least he came to his senses at the end. I was also very angry that Jason didn't change at the full moon. I still think something is going to happen with that though. Because the werepanthers wouldn't go through all that trouble if it doesn't work. But how cute was it that Jessica was there to help Jason through that. I thought that was so sweet but I do still like her and Hoyt together. I hope things work out between them. But I really don't hope that Alcide and Debbie stay together. I can't believe that she convinced him to run with another pack. I don't think that's right, it's so different from the book, and I really can not stand Debbie, she annoys me. And who is stupid enought to say that solidarity is not good for my sobriety. YES it is! Anyone knows that the when you start hanging out with the same crowd and similar people that you used to, your going to lapse and do it again, and in this case I am hoping it does happen to her, because that is how much I don't like her.

Moving on to my last main character Sam. Well I am not completely happy that Sam's brother can change into another human, I feel like he is constantly doing stupid things and stabbing people in the back so much that he is never giong to change. I really don't like having him on the show, I feel it is just putting so much stress on Sam that he doesn't need. I like Sam and I like his charachter and I like that girl that he had but Sam's brother screwed that up for him, too.

Well I think I covered all the main characters. Let me know what you thought of last weeks episode. I am looking forward to Sunday night to watch the new one.  Until next week!

Guest Post- True Blood Book/Show Comparison

So to start I want to tell you what I think about the TV show. I really like the TV show. My friends and I try to get together every Sunday and watch it. I like most of the characters in the show, honestly Sookie is not quite how I pictured her from the book but she does play a good role. I think it's kind of funny how Bill gets better looking with each season. Eric is definitely my favorite character in the book and in the show, Pam is my favorite character.

So I started off watching the first season of True Blood and after I liked it I started reading the books. I even got my Mom hooked on watching the show. This season is so good that it keeps me waiting for the next episode.

Now to tell you a little about the books. I think the characters roles in the books are better told than in the show. The lives that each character lead are better in the books because the show puts little twists on each character. I'll cover that later when I compare and contrast the books and the show. The way Charlene describes Bill and what he did make you still feel for him and you want him to be happy and get what he wants (Sookie). It's like you feel sad for him and like him but at the same time don't want Sookie and Bill to be together. Its kind of funny because Sookie goes from dating no one to dating a lot of people since the world around her unfolds and she discovers the  true nature of others around her: Vampires, shapshifters, were's and many more. And the way Eric is described at first it's like you want to dislike him but you can't help but like him, he has little funny quirks and the things he does make you fall for him.

So thats basically how I feel about the books and show in a nut shell because what I really want to do is dive into is comparing the two. Lets start with Sookie: so far she is pretty on track. They make her the sweet, little innocent girl next door, but a woman of independence and can stand her ground and tell you what she thinks. Bill's character is correct because he tries to do what is right yet always having to answer to his maker, which is on track with the books. But in the books, Bill never made another vampire and in the show he made Jessica. That is actually one of the twists that I like because I have really grown to like her character a lot. Also Bill never became king and never killed the queen. In the books, the Queen dies a whole other way, because half her body was destroyed in the bombing of a hotel and then the king of Las Vegas decides to take over the Louisianna region and kills the queen while she is injured. Now Eric is pretty close to his character, being the sheriff of his region, the maker of Pam, and even his maker Godrick. But Godrick, his maker never met the sun (dies) which is obvious in the last book that was recently released, which makes me curious on how the show will play out.

Now Lafayette is a main character in the show but dies in the second book or somewhere early in the series. And Tara is correctly Sookie's best friend but she is not a main character in the books like she is in the show. She mostly just comes and goes. The background on her family the show tells with her mom could very well be true because the book says her mother was alcoholic. Also the fact about the vampire taking advantage of her was correct. Pam is the same in the book.  I like Sam in the show just as in the book, he is always such a good friend to Sookie, always being there for her. But it's his family in the show that's different. He has a brother and the show made a whole role for him and his family that is mostly kept out of the book. And Andy Bellefleur is not hooked on V in the book, but I think his role in the show is kind of funny and gives me a little chuckle when I see him. Also Sookie's brother Jason's part is true being with all the girls and stuff and it is true about him being bit by panthers but not for the reason they give. In the book one of Crystal's family is jealous so he kidnaps him and bits him. They don't bite him so that he can help impregenate the girls of Hot Shot.

Now to move on to Arlene: she doesn't date the crazy Irish guy and get pregnant.  In fact, he doesn't even come from the book. Actually, once the Vampires are revealed, she becomes a vampire hater and even joins with the Fellowship of the Sun. So her and Sookie do grow apart and she tries many things to get Sookie killed. But Arlene never has to worry about an evil child. Surprisingly though, I like that twist they gave in the show. I really like Hoyt's character in the show. In the book he's not that big. He kind of gets mentioned now and then like Tara does. The whole witch thing that is going on in the show right now does indeed follow the book because a big part of the books are about Eric loosing his memory and the witches verses vampires. I'm sure the show will go into more detail soon.

The character of Alcide, being the big bad (yet caring) wolfe is true. But I am so mad that in the show he is back with Debbie Pelt. There is a big part in the book that I was hoping they would keep and I am still keeping my fingers crossed for it. But Alcide shows a lot more interest in Sookie than in the show. And in the book you really like Alcide in the beginning and truly, I was hoping that they would get together. But later on so many things happen to Alcide that harden him and change him so much that you start to not like him as much. And there is one character in the book that I can't wait for them to introduce in the show because I really like him but I don't want to give a name and give too much away.

Well I hope you liked my little compare and contrast between the movie and book. Please feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong or give your own opinion. I would love to know what you think. When I watch the show with my friend we always discuss how it compares with the book. Thanks for reading! Oh and this is my first blog I've ever written so I hope you like it!

Waiting on Wednesday (27)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

I am a big fan of the Infernal Devices series and I love Will and Jem!!  I read the prequel series before I read Mortal Instruments which is why I like Infernal Devices so much better.  I just feel like Shadowhunters belong in the steampunk world and not the modern world. I'm super excited for Clockwork Prince to be released even though it's still going to be a little bit of a wait.  December 6, 2011!

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters.  But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute.  If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street--and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal.  He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life.  To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined.  When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move--and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heard drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her.  But something is changing in Will--the wall he has built around himself is crumbling.  Could finding the Magister free Will from secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what he was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest of heart.

Well, I hope that the whole story wasn't just told in the synopsis, because that is one of the longest ones I've ever read! What are you waiting for?

Review- Paranormalcy

Title: Paranormalcy

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours.

But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

My thoughts:

I was so skeptical when I bought this book because of all the hype that it got. I've had a few bad experiences with a couple of really hyped up books so this book sat on my shelf for a little while before I gave it a chance. I am so glad I finally read it!

What I liked most about Paranormalcy was that it still had the seriousness of a book with supernatural characters with the light humor of a teenager. I also really enjoyed Evie's personality and the way she made me laugh during the dangerous times with vampires and other paranormal creatures being killed.

Kiersten White did a great job of webbing a story of secrets and exciting revelations. I was totally shocked by Evie's status in the Paranormal Containment Agency. I also thought that the story was very unique within the genre of paranormal and it wasn't assumed that all paranormal creatures are bad or killers by nature. In a lot of paranormal books, supernatural characters are bad and trained killers are going around staking vampires, but in Paranormalcy, almost all the supernatural beings are given a chance to prove themselves.

Evie is just awesome in general. She travels down faery paths around the world to catalog supernatural creatures while wearing high heels and leopard print mini dresses! I also loved the very honest relationship that she has with Lend. They show each other their true nature without any judgement and they accept each other for who they are.

Paranormalcy is such a unique story and I did not expect it to be so good. I'm super excited to see how this story continues in Supernaturally. And the covers are pretty awesome!

Review- City of Ashes (Audio Book)

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Rating: 3/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

A murderer is loose in New York City...

...and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary's father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, then what's his true motive? To make matter worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrive to investigate, with her eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary's brother, Jace.

Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy.

My thoughts:

After the horrible experience I had with the City of Bones audio book, I was dreading City of Ashes. As I have said before, the reader didn't do much to enhance the story. But lucky for me, City of Ashes has a different reader, one who does a much better job.

Even with a new reader, I'm still not a huge fan of this series. Clary seems to whinny, she has no idea what she's doing but she always insists on going out and being in the middle of the action. She just seems so stupid to me. If it wasn't for Jace and the other Shadowhunters, she would have died first action scene in the first book.

And don't even get me started on her guilt and how she constantly blames herself for everything that's happened. I just want to scream in her face and shake her until she understands that everything would have happened that way anyway, no matter what she did. I know that she is going to have a certain amount of guilt which is natural, but her's is just blown out of proportion. For some reason, Clary just really annoys me a lot. But I like the other characters in the book, especially Alec, Isabel and Magnus. I would be a lot happier if Isabel was the main character.

After saying all that, the plot of the story still interests me and curiosity makes me still want to know how the series is going to end. It was much better than City of Bones because the story was able to develop more and Cassandra Clare was able to get into the meat of the plot. There's just something fishy about who Jace and Clary are and whether or not they're truly related. There are also many mysterious facets that have yet to be explored that could be very entertaining if done the right way. I can feel that there is some big revelation that is yet to come in the next two books. And because I want to know, I will most likely listen to them, as well.

Fans of the Mortal Instruments series will most likely not enjoy this review. But that's not saying that I'm completely opposed to Cassandra Clare. I very much enjoyed Clockwork Angel and I'm eagerly anticipating Clockwork Prince. I know the stories are somewhat the same, but I just really like the steampunk setting of the Infernal Devices series. So, in my closing statement: to each his own!

Review- City of Bones (Audio book)

Title: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Rating: 2/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder-much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing-not even a smear of blood-to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. Buy why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

My thoughts:

I have read so much about this book on the blogs until the point of "I need to get this book to find out what everyone is raving about!" The opportunity arose when I was driving my car from Virginia to California and I decided to get the audio book version. I had only listened to one audio book before City of Bones and I really enjoyed the experience. Knowing I would have a lot of listening time on my hands, I also got the City of Ashes audio book.

Listening to an audio book and reading a physical book are two very different experiences and can dramatically shape your opinion of the book depending on the reader. Physically reading a book allows the reader to make their own voices in their head and gives them time to imagine the setting, the tone and the pace. But when an audio book, all that is determined by the reader.

City of Bones audio book has a terrible reader. She made all the girl characters sound like they were wining and all the male characters sound too girly. She also didn't have much conviction behind her voice. When Clary was supposed to be screaming or yelling, she would hardly raise her voice. When there was action or someone was supposed to be out of breath, she talked the same way as the rest of the book. It was a very odd experience.

I had already known what to expect of the story since I had read Clockwork Angel, so I already knew about the different types of creatures. They story was definitely exciting and there was a lot of action but because of the reader I had a hard time feeling the chemistry between Clary and Jace, not that I should really want to knowing how it ended. The end left me really wanting to know what was going to happen with Clary and Jace and if her mom would wake up again.

Overall, I found City of Bones to be very addictive, constantly wanting to know what happened next. The story was very good, but as far as the audio book version goes, I would recommend that it's to be read instead of listened to.