Blood Shadows (Blackthorn #1) by Lindsay J. Pryor

Title: Blood Shadows
Series: Blackthorn #1
Author: Lindsay J. Pryor
Genre: Romance/Paranormal/Adult/Urban Fantasy

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING*: VERY GRAPHIC SCENES
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Caitlin Parish is running out of time; she knows that whatever killed her parents is going to come after her next, even if no one believes her theories. Her best bet is to get answers out of the elusive vampire, Kane, a being notorious for his cunning brutality and irresistible charm. But Kane has his own agenda concerning Caitlin and it may not include playing nicely.

Enjoyment Factor:
For the most part, Blood Shadows is a very engaging read. I enjoyed the world-building immensely, although I do wish that Ms. Pryor went into more detail about the lore surrounding it. However, as it is with most paranormal/fantasy series, I'm sure that she'll reveal more over the span of the next installments.

You've been warned.

The sensuality of this book is through the roof; I will admit that some of said sensuality is a little questionable (slightly dubious on the consent at times). Kane is quite the persistent vampire and Caitlin, in my opinion, is just a tad unstable.
I originally wanted to give Blood Shadows a four out of five. I finished this book a couple of days ago and was all set to give it a nice and glowing review. But now that I've come back to it and reviewed my notes, I had trouble justifying the rating. That's never a good sign! The story is memorable, but it sometimes drags. A great deal of the book is spent solely on the interactions between the main characters in one locale; it gets old pretty quickly. Yes, I enjoyed the steamy bits, but give me more non-sexually-charged action, please!

Technical Rating:

Character Building:
Every scene, in its own way, lends a hand to building the personalities of the characters, and it's extremely well done. The only character that could have used more work was Xavier; I understood Rob and Max in their supporting character roles, but Xavier felt a little incomplete.

Plot Strength:
While I don't necessarily believe that there's such a thing as the over-development of characters, I did see a lack of balance between their build and the strength of the plot. Ms. Pryor has such a great concept in Blood Shadows, but her focus on the growth of the relationship between Caitlin and Kane drowns it out. A lot of the heavier plot driving doesn't come into play until the book is nearly over.

Sincerity:
My heart went out to both Caitlin and Kane numerous times! Their situations felt very real and it was absolutely heartbreaking. It's not an easy feat to humanize a story that's set in a world steeped in fantasy, but Ms. Pryor successfully did so.

Editing:
There were a few minor glitches here and there, such as misplaced words. For example, there was a sentence that said "within in" instead of "within it." So, like I said, little things. But, if you haven't noticed already, I'm a little neurotic when it comes to errors! However, they're so few and far between in Blood Shadows, so it doesn't really affect the story.
As a side note, I am far from perfect, and I make mistakes all the time. In fact, there are a few in this very blog! Don't worry; I'm just as harsh on myself, guys!

Pacing:
Because the character development and the plot development weren't balanced, the story dragged at times. Instead of character growth being woven into the plot, Ms. Pryor seemed to take a series of character time-outs. It almost felt like each character interaction had its own little time bubble surrounding it, where the plot slowed down considerably.

My Icing on Top:
I'm not going to lie; I want more Kane and Caitlin! But, guess what? The next books aren't even focused on them! Believe me when I say that I was not a happy camper when I found out. Blackthorn is one of those paranormal series that bounces around between different couples until the story lines converge. Alas, I was not looking for that kind of commitment! These series can become incredibly long, and if you become overly attached to one couple over the others, it can quickly become very frustrating and expensive to keep up. But, if you love these kinds of series and are looking for a hot paranormal read, look no further! Blackthorn is shaping up to be a solid series, and Ms. Pryor is now on my list of authors to follow.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

Title: World After
Series: Penryn & the End of Days #2
Author: Susan Ee
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Young Adult/Romance/Science Fiction

Maturity Rating: 13+
Initial Rating: 3/5
Technical Rating: 4/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Penryn finally has the family back together again, but things go awry when Paige slips away after a terrible massacre at their new home base. Penryn and her mother, desperate to not lose Paige again, attempt to find her, but find trouble instead.
Raffe isn't having much luck of his own, as he tries to recover his wings and exact revenge on the angels that took them.

My Initial Response: It's always bad when you attempt to write a synopsis and you struggle to articulate the point of the book. And then, when you come up with something that sounds right, it mimics the point of the first book of the series. What is that all about? I wanted to rate this book higher, if only because the writing seems to have slightly improved. Apparently, this book is longer than the first one, but I actually didn't take issue with finishing it. It's still choppy in its structure sometimes, but it was bearable. So that must count for something, right?

Really? The same basic plot twice?

Turns out, I still only felt the mildest twinge of interest for this book. Why, you ask? Well, nothing really happens in the story. You get a little bit of background on Raffe, and you find out what happened to Paige and even uncover what Uriel is trying to do. But by the end of the book, it doesn't feel like there was any stride forward within the overall plot. All the information that was provided simply creates a better foundation, but it doesn't magically create the house as well. The series darn well should be called "The Hunt for Paige and Raffe's Wings" because that's all there is to it at the moment. The main characters are so focused on those elements alone, that everything else might as well be window dressing. Locusts? Yeah, they are bothersome, but I need to get to Paige. Angels seeking an Apocalypse? Oh, that is worrisome, but I need to get my wings. It was fine for the first book, but to rehash the same thing in the second book makes the series start to feel repetitive. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how hooked you are), the next book isn't slated to drop until 2015, so that gives me plenty of time to possibly let the series grow on me. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Character Building: 1/1
I'm glad that we got a little more insight into Raffe's character. I'm also glad that there was a little bit of growth in the relationship between Penryn and Raffe. However, right now, my favorite character is Paige. Ms. Ee is taking her in quite an interesting direction, and I hope that her character is explored more in the coming book. Overall, I'm not sure if the character building evolved as much as I would have liked, but it was still on par with what she created in the last book, so a full point for that!

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
There is a very rude part of me that wants to give this a big fat zero. But, I'm not without heart. I think that Ms. Ee used this book as a means of creating some of the foundation that she probably should have had for the first book. But nothing really happens in the story. It seems like an updated re-run of the first story. You learn some tidbits here and there, but it doesn't lead up to anything, really. The ending was middling to fair. There was a big, heavy, action-filled moment and then...nothing?! It fades off abruptly and that's it. That's the end. It's definitely weaker than the ending of the first book in the series.

Sincerity: 0.5/1
There was some improvement here! I started caring just the slightest as to what was happening to the characters and what was going to happen next. The story felt a bit more genuine and the writing came together a bit better than it did with the last book. However, it still needs polish.

Editing: 1/1
Nothing really to add here; the editing was fine.

Pacing: 1/1
I felt a bit more locked into the story and it never felt like the pacing was lagging behind. If anything, perhaps there were times when the pace was a little too fast for the story; but, just as with Angelfall, these flaws didn't detract from the story overall.

My Icing on Top:
It seems like Ms. Ee is getting a better grasp on her writing style, but I think that her plot could use some work. If the Paige/wings plot somehow repeats itself in the next book, I just might lose my mind. Well, at the very least, I'd be hesitant to complete the series. I really am rooting for the series to get better, because it does have the potential. Part of me is glad that the third book in the series doesn't come out for a while, because I really don't want to be disappointed again so soon. Is that mean of me? Yeah, probably. But I have to have a healthy does of skepticism in with my optimism :) If you've already read Angelfall, you might as well continue on with World After. It isn't necessarily better, but it isn't worse either. If you haven't started the series at all yet, you may just want to let this sit on the back burner for a while until the majority of the books are out. Just my two cents!

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall
Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1
Author: Susan Ee
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Young Adult/Science Fiction

Maturity Rating: 13+
Initial Rating: 3/5
Technical Rating: 4/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Angels have descended upon Earth and they aren't particularly friendly. When Penryn's sister is snatched away by the winged predators, she makes an unlikely alliance with Raffe, an angel who brutally had his wings removed. Together the pair trek to the nearest angels' home base; Raffe goes with the hope of saving his wings while Penryn simply wants to rescue her sister. But the journey is rife with danger at every turn, with unimaginable horrors terrorizing the streets. Even if she makes it to the stronghold, there's no guarantee that Penryn will ever see her sister again; but, in a world full of desolation and darkness, it's a chance she has to take.

My Initial Response: I struggled to finish this book. Everything about the story screams that it's something that I should love, so I feel bad for not adoring it. everything, or some of the plot elements, but something about it was really off-putting.

Something is definitely suspicious here

 And for those who claim that this is a romance book?<rant> Get over yourselves, please. There are maybe two hints of romance going on here and that's it. I can understand that perhaps that's where the series is heading, but it's not there yet! So stop putting this as a romance! If a guy simply looks at you or even hugs you, it does NOT mean he wants to love you forever and ever. That being said, yes, I know, the ending. But come on! It's not a romance, it simply has the slightest bud of one. <end rant> When I started this book, I made the mistake that I always make; I didn't check to see how many books were in the series or if they were all out yet. If there's one thing that can kill a series for me, it's having to wait overly long for the conclusion. Don't get me wrong, though; I started Harry Potter in the 5th grade and stuck it out until I was a senior in High School. Reading like that can be a very frustrating commitment. At best, you can't get the story out of your head and you crave the next book until it's released. At worst, you slowly start forgetting the story, and by the time the book comes out, you're not sure if you care enough to finish it. For each series that falls into the former, there are about a dozen more that fall into the latter. Is it unfair to an author who had a pretty good story going? Absolutely. It's why I try not to read a series until it's finished. My point here is that because I'm already squarely on the fence with the series, I'm not sure I'll finish it in the long run. And that kind of makes me sad. Overall, Ms. Ee is set to release five books in this series, with two of them already out. The third book is slated to drop in 2015. So just keep that in mind!

There's just something so incredibly dry with the writing that I couldn't read more than a few chapters at a time before focusing my attention elsewhere. I'm not sure if it was the tense that it was written in (first-person present), or the clinical descriptions of

Character Building: 1/1
It's kind of hard to believe that Penryn is only 17 years old. She makes references to high school a couple of times, but other than that, she just doesn't seem that young. I'm going to go ahead and say that it's because of how she grew up, but don't be surprised if you catch yourself thinking that she's older. Honestly, I can't say for sure if Ms. Ee did this on purpose or not though, so I'm not going to knock it. Raffe is an interesting character as well. It's a little difficult to get a proper read on him, but that's only because the book is written in Penryn's voice. Not much you can do there except to learn about him through her eyes. There is a veil of mystery surrounding almost all of the characters, but in this case, I don't think it's a sign of weak character building.

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
Ah, the plot. I know that Ms. Ee has a full series to build up, and I understand that it's normal to not have everything laid out in black and white in the first book. However, almost nothing is said about what exactly happened during the first six weeks of the apocalypse and it leaves you feeling slightly detached from the story. And it's not just that; there's a great majority of background information that's left out. When you build such a complex setting and pair it with an intricate plot, you've got to give it a stable foundation to stand on. A good background is usually a part of that foundation. And then there's the ending. If you read it, you'll understand. Something there just didn't add up.

Sincerity: 0.5/1
My main problem with this book is how flat the writing was at times. There are a lot of exciting scenes, but I never felt as if I was on the edge of my seat. The descriptions, although well-articulated, felt lukewarm. The disconnect comes from Ms. Ee doing a great deal of telling instead of showing. It's such a fine line to walk, but it can affect the feel of the entire book.

Editing: 1/1
The editing was great-nothing out of the ordinary.

Pacing: 1/1
I do think that at times the story was dragged out. But only in a select few spots. Overall it wasn't bad. The pacing was appropriate for the plot.

My Icing on Top:
My sincerest hope is that the series will evolve with each new book. The story line could be incredible, the characters have raw potential and the author seems to have the ability to give me one of my favorite series of all time, but it all just needs a little bit more push to it. It may just be that I should re-read it at some point in the future; there has to be a good reason why a great majority of reviews (especially from some of my most trusted sources) are so overwhelmingly ecstatic. But for now, if you're looking for a new angel series to start, I would suggest reading The Premonition series by Amy Bartol first. I am head over heels in love with this lady and her books, and her foray into the genre feels a lot more genuine than Angelfall. But, if you can handle intense first-person present writing, and love angel stories anyway, go ahead and give this a try. I'm not making any promises, but considering the rave reviews, chances are you'll like it.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-Keana

Bewitch (Vampire Erotic Theater #5) by Felicity Heaton

Title: Bewitch
Series: Vampire Erotic Theater #5
Author: Felicity Heaton
Genre: Erotic Romance/Adult/Paranormal

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING*: VERY GRAPHIC SCENES
Initial Rating: 3/5
Technical Rating: 3.5/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Payne, both vampire and incubus, is on the hunt for a solution to his friends' problem. He quickly realizes that the charming witch Elissa may hold the key to uncovering what he seeks. Elissa is harboring secrets of her own and agrees to help Payne only to aid in her own quest. After an explosive night of passion, the pair must work together to overcome the obstacles standing not only in the way of their goals, but each other.

My Initial Response: Have you ever read any of the stories posted on eHarlequin or in the romance section of Literotica*? No? Oh, yeah. Me neither, ha!

I need a break from all that hot steaminess!

Ah, but in all seriousness, this story feels a lot like those stories. Don't get me wrong; there's some pretty good writing to be found throughout, but it's with one heck of a sexual charge. There's a time and place for that; better yet, there's a mood for that. Honestly, I just wasn't into it. There are a lot of graphic scenes, and for a book that's so short, it feels like it monopolizes the story. They were well-written, but I found myself skimming over a lot of it towards the end.
I read Ms. Heaton's first book in this series a long time ago, but I couldn't remember my impression of it. However, after finishing this story, I understood that my lack of recollection was due to how overly blase Ms. Heaton's writing can be at times. Bewitch just isn't, well, bewitching. It's simply a nice light read for those in the mood for smut with a paranormal edge.

*Literotica is most certainly a soft-core erotic story website. So 18+ only! Don't stray too far from the romance section if you visit, because some of the stuff on there is more than a little shocking. Just a warning!*

Character Building: 0.5/1
Payne's character is fantastically built. He's understandable. I think Elissa's character could have used more work though. For a story that really only focuses on two characters, I don't think that it's much to ask that those characters both have strong presentations. There aren't any supporting characters that can really fill in the blanks either, which is unfortunate. There's an expansion of the character base towards the end, but it's just frill by that point.

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
The plot isn't terrible, but some of the elements felt slightly underdeveloped. It's not the most interesting story to follow along with, but then again, I think this book is mainly out there for erotica fans. I can't give it full marks, but I also can't completely discredit a book simply for sticking to what it does best.

Sincerity: 1/1
I'll say this; it's not as if anything in the story was unbelievable, I just ultimately didn't care. Perhaps it's because I didn't make a good connection with the characters, or perhaps it's because I found the story generally lacking. Either way, I know the sincerity was there, so full point there.

Editing: 1/1
Editing was fine; nothing was glaringly awful.

Pacing: 0.5/1
My only issue here is that I wish that sex wasn't the name of the game in this story. Yes, the hero is a partial incubus who thrives on passion. Yes, the heroine seemed hot and randy for the hunky male.Yes, it makes sense, I know! But don't jump down my throat just yet! I think the pacing got bogged down by the lengthiness of some of the sexcapading. Were the more intimate scenes important to the overall story? Absolutely. But it just needed to be a little bit more balanced in terms of how it drove the plot, that's all.

My Icing on Top:
Don't read this for the plot, read this for the smut. I think there's really nothing else to be said for Bewitch. Although, what is up with her covers for this series all being the same? For some reason, that kind of irks me. It doesn't have any bearing on how I read the book, but sheesh. At least have them in a different position from book to book ;-). I may try Ms. Heaton's full length novel series though, just to see if there's any improvement there. Fingers crossed, right?

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Alejandro's Sorceress by Alyssa Day

Title: Alejandro's Sorceress
Author: Alyssa Day
Genre: Paranormal/Romance/Adult

Maturity Rating: 17+
Initial Rating: 2/5
Technical Rating: 2/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Garden-witch Rose Cardinal has a problem of the paranormal variety; a family of basilisks has taken over her garden! When her mother calls in the help of a federal agency, Rose quickly finds that she may have a bigger problem on her hands. Agent Alejandro is too tall, dark and handsome to be ignored and his sights are set on her. Opposites attract in this quirky, light novella.

My Initial Response: Whew! I made it through in one piece! Meet one of the prime reasons why I normally don't read novellas: Alejandro's Sorceress. I found myself rolling my eyes all too often, shaking my head every other sentence and feeling generally detached while reading.

The range of emotions I went through while reading

The writing reminds me of watching a sitcom. I could picture this being on TV, me watching for all of a few minutes, and then swiftly changing the channel. Why? Because it's shallow. I generally don't take issue with instant love syndrome, but this was just ridiculously unbelievable. I think overall that I just wasn't the right audience for this book. I'm guessing Ms. Day wrote this for her established base of fans who already know her world and her style of writing; maybe this was just a quick appetizer to whet the appetites of her fans waiting for her next full-length book. Who knows? The writing wasn't altogether terrible though, so maybe I'll give one of her novels a try in the future. Maybe.

Character Building: 0.5/1
I have to give Ms. Day some credit here because she did try to flesh out her characters. I'm not saying that it was a masterpiece by any means, but I could see the beginnings of some concrete building. Overall though, I didn't really care about the characters. I didn't hate them, I didn't love them. They were just there. Some of the interactions were amusing, some even steamy, but most were very awkward.

Plot Strength: 0/1
There was a plot? If there was, I missed it. Completely. There isn't any major conflict, unless you count the cat and mouse game of the instant love syndrome. There are a few cool ideas introduced along the way though and my bet is that those ideas come more into play in Ms. Day's other books. But these ideas were mere decoration and really didn't add on to the story at all. Highly disappointing.

Sincerity: 0.5/1
I struggled with this rating a bit. To be perfectly fair, I didn't want to give any points for sincerity at all. However, I think that the events of the book fit in with the world that Ms. Day created at the very least, so I had to give some credit. I don't want to spoil the story, but if you read it, you'll understand why I was hesitant to give it credit at all.

Editing: 1/1
There were a few minor errors here and there, but they didn't detract from reading.

Pacing: 0/1
This story is a little all over the place. The progression didn't feel natural at all, especially with the insta-love element added into the mix. Beyond that, there wasn't even an actual plot.

My Icing on Top:
I didn't get much out of this book. As I said earlier, I think those who already read books by Alyssa Day would probably enjoy this more than I did though. Aside from that, I suppose if you love crazy instant love syndrome, this story may be up your alley as well. Anyway, this was the second book in the anthology that I mentioned in the last post, so if you really want to give it a try, I'd suggest heading over to Amazon to buy the set. It's currently on sale for the low price of $0.99 so you can't go wrong! Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Bodyguard (Shifters Unbound #2.5) by Jennifer Ashley

Title: Bodyguard
Series: Shifters Unbound #2.5
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Genre: Paranormal/Romance/Adult

Maturity Rating: 17+
Initial Rating: 4/5
Technical Rating: 4/5

My Quickie Synopsis: After Ursine-shifter Ronan comes to her rescue, Elizabeth Chapman's life is turned upside down. Not only is the would-be robber gunning for her life, but her past threatens to catch up with her. Will Elizabeth trust Ronan enough to protect her, or will she have to go on the run again?

My Initial Response: I don't usually read novellas in a series, and I definitely don't start series out of order. That being said, I recently purchased a boxed set of paranormal bad boy stories by various authors and Bodyguard was in the lineup. I was pleasantly surprised! The story was short and sweet, but even more than that, it was extremely well written. There were a couple of plot elements that I was slightly uncomfortable with, namely the state of affairs of a world aware of shape-shifters. And the cover doesn't line up with the description of Elizabeth. But, overall, this book was great. It was a nice light read to enjoy on a rainy Sunday.

Character Building: 0.5/1
I know that this story was short which means there isn't as much opportunity to ground all characters, but I felt slightly underwhelmed at how some of the characters were written. Ronan and Elizabeth were the best in terms of the strength of their build, and maybe that's all that was necessary. But call me greedy; I wanted more out of them as well as some of the other supporting characters. Bear in mind (ha! no pun intended), this is a book within a lengthy series, so a lot of these characters have an entire book devoted to them. So, perhaps I would've been a little better satisfied if I had read the first books in the series before I tackled this novella.

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
Again, this all comes back to the length of the story. It isn't long enough to go into too many details. I would have loved to know a little more about the back story of Elizabeth, but I think Ms. Ashley did a pretty good job at delivering the most important information about the character's history. Beyond that, Bodyguard had a great story that surprisingly had some depth to it. There's a reason why Ms. Ashley is a bestselling author!

Sincerity: 1/1
Although I can't say I was a complete fan of the world that Ms. Ashley has built in Bodyguard, it was compelling and honest. Bodyguard was superb in terms of its sincerity. Never once did I question the events that happened because they flowed so intrinsically within the story.

Editing: 1/1
I think that I may have noticed one error, but I can't discredit the entire novella. Ms. Ashley has been publishing stories for a while, and she clearly knows what she's doing.

Pacing: 1/1
For such a short story, it sure felt like a lot happened. In hindsight, it wasn't necessarily that a lot happened; Bodyguard simply had really good pacing. It was beneficial in this instance because it made the book feel fuller overall.

My Icing on Top:

Bodyguard gets my stamp of approval

I'm always pleased to find another good author; it makes my hunt for the next book all the easier. As I said before, I generally don't read novellas within a series, or the ".5s." They usually end up forcefully dropping a reader into an already established world (if they haven't read the rest of the series), or they end up being simple extensions of a numbered book in the series. The latter has always been a peeve of mine; it always makes me feel like either the author was lazy (why not write these extra concepts into the original books?) or that the author was just looking for extra money. Either way, this clearly was not the case with Bodyguard. If you're looking for a light, paranormal/romance, give this book a try!

Happy reading!

-K

Starbound by J.L. Weil

Title: Starbound
Author: J.L. Weil
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Young Adult/Paranormal

Maturity Rating: 13+
Initial Rating: 1/5
Technical Rating: 1.5/5

My Quickie Synopsis: The fates of Katia and Seth have been intertwined from birth; they are a rare starbound pair, destined to love each other. But an ancient curse could kill them both if they give in to their love.

Initial Response: I am so glad that this book is over. As a matter of fact, after getting through the first chapter, my initial thought was, "I really hope this wraps up fast!"
Now, normally when I'm looking for a new book to read, I prowl Goodreads until my eyes glaze over. Unfortunately, the site was down and I had to take a shot in the dark, relying on an Amazon recommendation. But I can't say that the rating on Amazon was too far off; I looked at the rating this book got on Goodreads and the two are comparable. So, maybe I'm crazy, but this book did not do it for me. Shallow characters, terrible writing, and a weak plot equal extreme dissatisfaction. Generally I'm all for giving authors a second chance when I read a flop book, but I do not foresee any other J.L. Weil books in my future.

Character Building: 0.5/1
I can't get behind a book that does more telling than showing, and this is especially true when it comes to character building. There were moments when Ms. Weil pulled through and showed the growth of Katia and Seth, but it wasn't consistent. Katia was supposed to be Ms. Popularity, but the reader only gets to see a minimal shadowing of that side of her personality. It's unfortunate because I think that the balance of characters is appropriate, but their relationships and personalities are never explored beyond surface necessities.

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
There are some good ideas going on in Starbound, but not enough to save it. It's easy to follow along with the story line, but every element of the plot was shaky. There are a lot of people who harp on about how to create a good story with certain building blocks. Introduction of characters, crisis, climax, resolution, and conclusion are all buzz words to me. I don't necessarily believe that there has to be a set way to write a story, but I do think that the concepts have to be cohesive. This book had little to no cohesiveness.

Sincerity: 0/1
This entire story revolves around a singular curse and the resolution of that curse. There was no true complexity there, and yet there were a couple of major plot holes that I couldn't overlook. The inconsistencies made the story hard to believe, especially the resolution to the book.

Editing: 0/1
It was my sincere belief that this book had no beta reader, but then I went back to read the credits. This book at the very least had an editor, who can act as a beta reader of sorts. Now, I'm not sure if this editor hasn't had much experience, was rushed, or just generally didn't care, but there were a LOT of errors. I'm not talking little punctuation errors either. This was full of word choice errors,  incorrect usage of the parts of speech, and indecision on the voice of the characters. In one example, "were" was used instead of "where." Then there was this gem: "You of all people should know that what I feel for you is so much deeper than physically appearance." I cringed when I read it. Starbound is in dire need of a revision.

Pacing: 0.5/1
The book would have been improved greatly had it slowed its pace just by a little in order to give proper attention to the ideas that it was trying to portray. The story felt a little rushed sometimes which made it hard to really connect to the plot. After a while, it all just felt like going through the motions.

My Icing on Top:

I'm not so good at holding my tongue when it comes to bad books!

I don't think there's much else I can say here. I was really disappointed in this book! I think that there is some spark there, but the book just wasn't ready to be published. It needs to be polished quite a bit and then maybe it'll be a halfway decent read. I can't suggest this book to anyone, because there are so many better books out there just waiting to be discovered. But I do have to say, if you're on a book snob high, read this book. It will ground you back to reality and show you just how bad things can really be so that you appreciate well-done books a little more.

Happy reading!

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

-K

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer Armentrout

Title of Book: Obsidian
Series: Lux #1
Author: Jennifer Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal/Romance

Maturity Rating: 13+
Rating: 5/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Katy Swartz has no idea what she's in for when she moves next door to a pair of strange, ethereal siblings in an odd town in West Virginia. Her mom thinks the pair of wonder twins could be just the friends that Katy needs, but Katy soon learns that the pair aren't quite what they seem. It looks like ET didn't phone home after all...

Character Building: 1/1
What can I say? Ms. Armentrout certainly knows how to make her characters come alive. Be prepared to laugh, blush, and curse at all of the antics our lovely main characters get into. Katy is great as the heroine; she's easy to relate to, has a level-headed attitude and doesn't put up with crap. Daemon is a delectable hero; he's a cross between the bad boy of your dreams and the sweet guy next door. The supporting characters are well thought out and play important roles in driving the plot forward, which is refreshing to see.

Plot Strength: 1/1
The plot was easy to follow, albeit sometimes a little too easy to follow. There wasn't an extraordinary amount of depth to the story line, but I can't fault the book for that. It's perfect as a young adult book. The ending isn't heavy, meaning there's no intense cliffhanger, and the majority of the plot points introduced in the book reach resolutions.

Sincerity: 1/1
Ms. Armentrout addresses every doubt that a reader might have about the plausibility of aliens living among the residents of W.VA. The writing creates a very cohesive world that not only makes sense, but hinges on overlapping our own world.  As a matter of fact, you might just look at that cute neighbor of yours a little differently after reading this book!

Editing: 1/1
The rating is pretty self-explanatory; it's always a relief to read a book that had a good editor behind it.

Pacing: 1/1
Obsidian has fantastic pacing! It's one of those books that you can stay up all night reading, because the pace keeps up with the plot points. I was thrilled at the progression between Daemon and Katy; too often in young adult books authors tend to create unrealistic relationship standards, but I Ms. Armentrout manages to avoid such a faux pas.

My Icing on Top:
I read a lot of paranormal/young adult/romance books. Okay, more than a lot. But honestly I have never really been into books about aliens. They've just never struck my fancy. However, I have read several other books by Jennifer Armentrout, and considering how highly rated this series is across the board, I had to give it a try. I haven't been disappointed so far!

So, if you're looking for a new series to dig into, I highly suggest giving Obsidian a try.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K