Book Review: Strong Blood by Dale Ibitz.

Synopsis:
The war between nature's gods continues to rage on Eyidora and Haley, descendant of the Air Eyid, struggles with her own battles.

She's mired in a battle with Ian, the Fire Eyid descendant, over the lost Eyid stones. She needs the stones to stop the war, and he needs the stones to destroy Eyidora. She knows where the Land Eyid stone is hidden, and she races to Tamoor to find it before Ian does.

Haley still doesn't trust Tuggin, the stone-faced Eyidoran assigned to protect her. As a Menta witch, he's adept at lying, mind-control, and killing. Even though Haley is starting to believe that Tuggin may be serving more than one master, she continues to battle her feelings for him, never sure which duty he feels most inclined to serve.

But Haley's biggest battle of all comes when she meets Luke and Telsa, twins with undeniable strength. Haley invites them to join her on her mission to find the Land Eyid stone. Has she put her trust in someone who may be just as dark and dangerous as Ian, the descendant of Fire himself?

The Nerd's Ramble: In the second instillation of the Last Moon Rising Series, we find Hadley, Elana, and Tuggin still tangled up together in a twisted "should they be or shouldn't they be trusted" plot string. I like that no one really seems to be who they say they are in this series. Here we're also introduced to a second set of twins, Luke and Telsa who also apparently have secondary motives.

There's a lot more story in this book. We get history about the war and some of the things that are driving the story along. We get more character definition and learn more about a couple character's motivations. I really love the interaction between Tuggin and Hadley and the relationship that is building between them. Hadley gets more development, not only on a personal level, but grows with abilities. She and Ian are well matched as antagonist/protagonists go, and I'm really liking where this story is heading.

The major encounter between Hadley and Ian is very interesting. A few secrets are revealed, a couple of characters come clean about their actions, and betrayal rocks the rag-tag group of teens. Personally I feel that this book is a bit stronger than the first book, but I still want more. I'm one of those people who like longer books and in a way I almost feel that Book one and two could have been combined. I'm looking forward to book three.

Review of Book #1-- Fire In The Blood

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length: 260 pages
Available Format: All formats
Publication Date: October 1, 2012 (Createspace)
Author's Page: Dale Ibitz on Goodreads
Disclosure: I won Fire in the Blood through a contest. The author generously sent me Strong Blood. I am not compensated, nor am I influenced in any way for this review.

Book review: Fire In the Blood by Dale Ibitz.

Synopsis: 
Global warming is playing havoc on Earth, and when 17 year-old Haley tumbles to a parallel world, she discovers that Earth’s issues stem from a war between the Eyids, the gods of nature. Because her necklace is a stone that holds the power of the Air Eyid, Haley is called upon to stop the war

But Haley has a problem. Actually, two problems. One named Tuggin, and one named Ian.

Both lie to her. Both have secrets. And neither are who they say they are. With her stone of power, Haley’s forced to make a choice that will decide the fate of all the worlds. But who should she trust, who should she fight, and who is the one with fire in his blood bent on betraying them all?

The Nerd Rambles: Alternate world/universe books are something that I eat up like candy. This book was no exception to that. Fire in the Blood is a the first book in a promising young adult series. The main character Haley is a modern, typical seventeen year old girl, who wants nothing more than a "Hall-God" boyfriend, and to get through the day without some sort of muck up.

Instead, she's thrust into a parallel world called Eyidora by her adoptive mother when she's hunted by the same entity that killed her birth parents. There she's introduced to Tuggin, a tight lipped, abrasive, gorgeous eighteen year old who seems to want nothing to do with her--except to keep her on a tight leash. The problems don't stop there, in fact they intensify when she learns that she's a crucial piece to ending a war that would not only destroy Eyidora, but Earth as well. To further complicate things, THE Hall-God Ian enters the picture, joining her in this parallel world. He knows more than he should, and nothing is what it seems.

I really enjoyed this book. There are a couple hitches to it though. I think there should have been just a little more exposition in the beginning as things start quickly and the reader is expected to keep up, even as this new world, new languages and history are thrown at us in a rapid fire fashion. I like that Hadley grows through the story, and learns quickly rather than depending on Tuggin and a few other characters. It's also extremely fast paced and the story moves so quickly that I read through the book and wanted more to this piece.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length: 236 pages.
Available Format: All available formats.
Publication Date: July 11, 2011 (through Createspace)
Author Link: Dale Ibitz on Goodreads
Disclosure: I won this book through a contest on Facebook. I am not compensated or influenced in any way. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Review: Obscura Burning by Suzanne van Rooyen

Synopsis: The world's going to end in fire...and it's all Kyle's fault.

Kyle Wolfe's world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks away from graduation, a fire kills Kyle's two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle's friends aren't all that dead anymore. Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it's Shira who's alive...and now they're friends with benefits. Shifting between realities is slowly killing him, and he's not the only one dying. The world is dying with him. He's pretty sure Obscura has something to do with it, but with his parents' marriage imploding and realities shifting each time he closes his eyes, Kyle has problems enough without being the one in charge of saving the world...

The Nerd's Ramble: Obscura Burning is the story of Kyle Wolf and how his world is slowly crumbling around him. Caught between two different realities, one where his boyfriend is alive and their friend Shira is dead, and the other where Shira lives, but Danny, Kyle’s boyfriend has died.  The shifting reality, the appearance of Obscura, and the fight against time are tearing Kyle apart, and he ends up not only fighting for his life, but the salvation of Earth.

It took me a couple of chapters to get oriented with the world and the events that were going on. I feel that there could have been just a little more back story and set up, but it’s not detrimental to the pacing, or the story overall. I really enjoy the issues that were presented in this book and how the characters deal with them, and the emotions that go along with them. I like that Kyle Wolfe is more of an anti-hero or a dark hero, but I tend to fall for characters who have baggage.

The book is well written, well paced and the characters are ones that I keep thinking about and coming back to. I like the science in this story, and the fact that it’s a very different take on an apocalyptic story. Kyle, whether you love him or hate him, will stick with you for a while. The ending of this book is something that I would not change. I like the way it ends, and the sentiment in the ambiguity.

Obscura Burning is a book that I would recommend to people, even if they’re a bit turned off by the ‘young-adult’ label. It’s mature and fast paced, dealing with some heavy issues. I like that the main character is conflicted with his own personal issues, along with having to deal with the societal labels that go along with them. It’s a great, wild read and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Rating:★★★★☆ 
Total Length:  300 pages
Available Format: Epub and traditional
Publication Date: December 7, 2012 (Etopia Press)
Author's Link: Suzanne Van Rooyen on Goodreads
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book by BTS Magazine for a review. I was not compensated or influenced in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Review: The Mortal Instruments Book Five City of Lost Souls Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

The Nerd rambles: Say what you will about Cassandra Clare--I'm not going to get into it here. These books though---they're my dirty little secret. Seriously. I deny deny and deny that I like them, and a few select know that I do. (And here I go putting it up on the internet *sigh*). Please don't get me started on the movie, I don't think anyone can handle that.

The Good: There's A LOT going on in this book. And not all of it is Clary moping over Jace. Or whining about Jace. Or chasing Jace. The other characters show up and do things, significant things that are important to the plot--and to what this series may change into with the next book. Some of the characters have even appeared to grow a bit and have started to patch relationships and personal issues. I like that not everyone is relying on Clary to magically pull something out of the air to save the day. This book had a lot of action, and conflict. It takes a little while to digest.

The Bad: Clary whines. Simon whines. Izzy's a tall stoic bitch. And we're not talking about Alec. Ever again. There's so much going on in this book at times scenes tend to get too cluttered, too hung up on minute meaningless detail. Other scenes seem to drag. I think that's part of Clare's writing style though. The build up to the last 'big fight' was rushed, and the fight almost anti-climatic with how quickly it was over. Alec, you have a lot of explaining to do, and I don't think you're going to fix what you broke.
Honestly, I enjoyed it. I've read better, and I've certainly read worse. I just wish there was some way to smooth everything down, because at times it became very jarring.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length: 535 pages
Available Format: Epub, Kindle, Traditional
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Author Link: Cassandra Clare webpage

Book Review: Games of Fire by Airicka Phoenix

Synopsis: Sophie has enough problems in her life without Spencer turning her blood to fire, without his eyes freezing and burning her, without his hatred of her. Since his migration into the house next to hers, Sophia Valdez isn’t sure whether she wants to toss him under a bus or kiss that smirking mouth of his. But even as the temperature rises around them, leaping flames of passion, want and desire,everything either has ever known will be shattered by the lurking shadow hounding their every step, wanting revenge.

Spencer Rowth moves to the sleepy town of River Port with his mother and twelve year old sister, Suzy, to escape a deceitful father, an unfaithful girlfriend and a life crumbling much too fast for him to grapple onto only to be smacked upside the head by the last thing he wanted again. Sophie was everything he refused to want. Her temper, her wit, her laugh, her smile, the way her entire body goes up in flames under his hands are things he would rather slam a lid on and forget. Instead, he finds himself falling for the smart-mouth next door. But how long will he have before the evil chasing them catches up? How long before the very thing he never wanted becomes his only thread to sanity? And who is after them? What do they want and why do they want Spencer and Sophie dead?

The Nerd's Ramble: This book blew me away. I've read one of Ms. Phoenix's books before and I found myself enjoying that one as well. However, Games of Fire is probably one of my favorite things I've read in a while. The set up is a little standard, good girl lives with good parents, attends Church each week, has good friends, and the best guy friend since they were all little. Enter bad boy hottie who moves in next door, who all in one instant manages to turn her on and shut her down at the same time.

There's more to this than that though. Loads.

Sophie and Spencer meet and after fighting their growing mutual attraction for a third of the book enter into a sort of relationship, where neither wants to take take the next step, but they find themselves becoming tangled together. Then the really weird things start to happen. Vandalism, creepy messages, and some truly disturbing things happen in this book. I figured out who was behind it rather early on in the book, but it didn't take away from the story. In fact it made it even more fun to see when the big bad thing was going to happen. And speaking of big bad things--this is a doozy. And it's interesting how it's resolved and the buildup to it is really well written. I think what I like most apart from the suspense and the fact that this story goes so much deeper than good girl/bad boy fall in love is that the characters grow and change and evolve. They are not the same people at the end of the story that we as readers meet on page one. The characters change and get stronger, and good things happen, bad things happen and it's just really an all around great story. I cannot get enough of this story. I really liked it. It surprised me and I'm glad that I read it.

Disclosure: I won this in a contest. I am not compensated for this review, and I don't even think the author knows I'm doing it.

Rating: ★★★★★
Total Length: 475 pages
Available Format: Kindle, Smashwords, Kobo, Paperback
Publication Date: February 14, 2013 (self published by Airicka Phoenix)
Author's Link: Airicka Phoenix webpage

Book Review-- Tempted (House of Night #6) P.C Cast Kristen Cast.

Synopsis: Zoey needs a break after some serious excitement. Sadly, the House of Night school for vampyres doesn’t feature breaks on its curriculum—even for a High Priestess in training and her gang. Plus juggling three guys is no stress reliever, especially when one is a sexy Warrior so into protecting Zoey that he’s sensing her emotions. Wider stresses lurk too, and the dark force in Tulsa’s tunnels is spreading. Could Stevie Rae be responsible for more than a group of misfit fledglings? And Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from the immortal Kalona and his dark allure—but they also show that only Zoey can stop him. She’s not exactly keen to meet up, but if Zoey doesn’t go to Kalona he’ll exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. She just has to find the courage to do what’s necessary, or everything that’s important to her will be destroyed.

The Nerd's Ramble: Again, I've got conflicting feelings about this series. There's a little more plot here, but the Casts use a very convincing bait-and-switch technique. We, the reader, think we're getting into something good and then BLAMO! Boyfriend drama. The over blown stereotypes of various characters is getting out of hand. Seriously. Please stop that. Not all African Americans (teenage or not) speak like that. Most don't. Most gay men don't cry because they can't bring all their shoes on a trip to save the world. Seriously. Stop that.

One thing that the Casts did that I did like was the point of view switch. It was fun to read other character's accounts, and see what some were up to when they weren't near Zoey. I would have preferred that even their accounts were in first person narrative just to keep the flow of the story, but I can understand why the Casts didn't do this. The ending was surprising, and I'm interested to see where it goes from here. I've got the books all the way up to the most recent release from the library so I'm probably going to plow through them pretty quickly.

Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 319 pages.
Available Format: Nook, Kindle, Epub, Traditional.
Publication Date: October 23, 2009 (Atom)
Author's Page: House of Night

Book Review- Hunted (House of Night #5) P.C Cast Kristen Cast

Synopsis: What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you?

At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer.  But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses.  Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?

On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down.  Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems.  The red fledglings have cleaned up well – they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home – but are they really as friendly as they seem?  On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Erik, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs.  Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us?
The Nerd's Ramble: This series is an emotional roller coaster for me, and not in the traditional sense. More of a "Oooh I like this series" and "Let me throw this damn book out the window because no."

First of all I'm getting tired of the love dodecahedron that's building up around Zoey. Can she just have one love interest? The Casts have shown that neither Heath or Eric are really good for her. Aphrodite has even stated how bad Eric is for anyone--yet Zoey continually bounces between the two of them. Enter Stark from the previous book whom she knew for all of 24 hours before he died. And then he 'un-died' and all of a sudden, he's added to the 'to bone' list. And then there's Kalona. The antagonist, the consort of the big bad--who creeps into Zoey's dreams and has naughty sexy times with her because she's the reincarnation of of the Maiden who imprisoned him in the Earth. And yet she calls Aphrodite a 'ho' and talks about 'gross-kissing sounds'.

Yeah. Still with me?

I just wish the Casts would focus on the plot. There's a lot of interesting things going on, and I don't even mind that Zoey's continually gaining powers. From the first book the Casts have made it known that she's specul (tm). I like how the other characters are also developing. Aphrodite is turning out to be one of my favorite characters. Even the twins are changing slowly.

Though, the character development can make me go "ooh yes!" and then "Damn it no." Can we just for a moment talk about Damien and Jack? I applaud the Casts for having homosexual teenage characters in a YA book. It doesn't happen all that often. But-- can we have two gay characters who don't; cry, faint, scream or become emasculated because they are well, gay? Can we also have the characters stop referring to the gay couple as "the gay parade" or "gay boy". I mean really.

Back to the book. Hunted is okay. It's clearly a filler book meant to bridge between the two parts of the series. I have a serious love hate relationship with this series, and I'll continue just because curiosity and stubbornness won't let me let it go.

Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Total Length: 321 pages
Available Format: Kindle, Nook, Epub, Traditional
Publication Date: March 10, 2009 (St. Martin's Griffin.)
Author's Page: House of Night

Book Review-- Untamed (House of Night #4) P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

Synopsis: Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, the only two Zoey has left are undead and unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her?  Zoey's adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in PC and Kristin Cast's spellbinding fourth House of Night novel.

The Nerd's Ramble: Thank goodness for Untamed as it has started to redeem the series for me. After Chosen, I was seriously debating on not reading any further. Untamed picks up with the nerd herd still angry at Zoey. There's a new student, by the name of Jack Stark--who Zoey instantly is attracted to, which is rather annoying, considering she talks the entire book how she's not going to dwell on any boys and how Aphrodite is still rather 'ho-ish'. This really bothers me because Zoey can't seem to function without thinking about any of the men/boys she's been with. Also, Damien and his boyfriend are adorable, don't get me wrong, but can we have them behave less stereotypically? I mean come on.

Thankfully, those are simply blips of thought, and the occasional internal whining. The plot really picks up in this book. I really love how the Casts manage to weave Cherokee legend, Christian theology and then the beliefs of the vampires to provide a lush and interesting cast.

I really like the last quarter of this book when the events hinted at in the previous two books start to come to fruition. Again, the blending of the legends is something that works well in the story's favor. I'm looking forward to reading the next part in this series.

Marked (House of Night #1)
Betrayed (House of Night #2)
Chosen (House of Night #3)

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length:  338 pages
Formats Available: Kindle, Epub, Traditional, and audio cd.
Publication Date: September 23, 2008 (St. Martin's Griffin)
Series Website: House of Night

Book Review-- Chosen (House of Night #3) P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

Synopsis:  Dark forces are at work at the House of Night and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn.  Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies.  And oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends.  So begins the gripping third installment of this “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before.  Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity.  Speaking of rare: Zoey finds herself in the very unexpected and rare position of having three boyfriends. Mix a little bloodlust into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster.  Just when it seems things couldn’t get any tougher, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-father in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres.  But, as Zoey and her friends so often find out, how things appear rarely reflects the truth…

The Nerd's Ramble:  Despite the spelling of vampire (yes, I will mention that in probably every review of this series, it just gets under my skin, and I can't let it go) and the teenage angst/cliches I really liked the first two books of this series. They were so promising. The House of Night presented a different take on vampires, one that really stuck with me and made me think. Not to mention, on a purely superficial level the covers of the books that I own are absolutely gorgeous.

Chosen, however, is a whole different kettle of fish. Rather than the amazing plot and conflict that is hinted at by other characters, or events in the previous two books, and bits and pieces throughout the third, this book instead focuses on Zoey's 'ho-ish behavior.'

Zoey doesn't have a boy problem, she has a honesty problem. She's leading around two boys who in their own way care very much about her, and somehow she's managed to attract the attention of a very 'young and hot' teacher. Teacher/student relationships bother me on a slight level, but for the most part I can ignore it. Not here. Every other paragraph Zoey is slathering on about whatever boy she's daydreaming about for that half second. I understand that romance conflict is interesting, but this is a little much. Especially for a high school student-- who is still the top fledgling and super unique (inching scarily close to the Dreaded Mary Sue Line), has a great group of friends and has to deal with the change.

Also? The constant presentation of stereotypical homosexual cliches in one character have gotten out of hand. Please stop that. This character is way too cool to have this done to him. It's only gotten worse as the series progressed. I wish the Casts had focused on this plot that they've created. The changes that happen to two other supporting characters are interesting and continue to lead the reader into what's going to happen.

I will continue to read this series, as it's sucked me in just enough. I'm hoping Untamed is a bit better.

Marked (House of Night #1)
Betrayed (House of Night #2)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Total Length: 307 pages
Format: Kindle, Epub, Traditional.
Publication Date: March 4, 2008 (St. Martin's Griffin)

Book Review-- Betrayed (House of Night #2) by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast.

Synopsis: Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night.  She's come to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess, Nyx, has given her, and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, Zoey finally feels like she belongs--like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey's old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. Then, when she needs her new friends the most, death strikes the House of Night, and Zoey must find the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart, her soul, and jeopardize the very fabric of her world.

The Nerd's Ramble:  This book picks up right after the first in the series, continuing with the story of Zoey and her band of dorky vampyre fledglings. I still dislike the spelling of vampire, and it's still rather jarring to me to see it spelled that way. The Greek theme continues, and it's something that I really enjoy and I think it makes this series stand out, and apart from most of the vampire works out there.

Zoey, our protagonist is continuing to gain power and has been declared "The most powerful fledgling ever" (TM). This is a little irksome, but I think that Zoey's internal monologue and way of speaking keeps it from getting a little too cliched. In this book we also find that things are not what they seem at The House of Night, especially in regards to characters that were heavily lauded, or mistreated/mistrusted in the first book.

I was not prepared for a character's death and that just blew me away. The Casts have some serious testicular fortitude (so to speak) to do that to one of the characters, and the supporting cast. There's an interesting twist at the end, and while I don't want to give anything away--it was unexpected. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Book #1 Review: Marked

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length: 310pages
Format: Epub, Kindle, Traditional
Publication Date: October 2, 2007 (St. Martin's Griffin)

Book Review- Marked (House of Night Book #1) P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

Synopsis:  The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire -- that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers.  When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Shelly's Thoughts: I've heard good things about this series, so I bit the bullet and once more ventured into the YA area of my bookstore. I ended up picking up a box set with the first four books of this series, and sat down to read the first one earlier today. It's a fairly quick read, and interesting.

I did like the different take on vampirism. I like the idea of the school, and I especially like that not all of the chosen make it. The Greek mythology emphasis is very nifty too.

It did however take me a while to stop rolling my eyes every time I saw the word vampyre. So far it's looking to be a promising series. I'll start Betrayed as soon as I can.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 306 pages
Formats: Kindle, Epub and traditional
Publication Date: May 1, 2007