Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #47

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

So, while I'm making a teensy bit of progress, I think I want to try to push that number each week up to 20 instead of just 10.  Let's see how that goes!


1.  All Through My Town by Jean Reidy:

Rising, waking
Bread is baking
School bus honks its horn

Who are the people in your neighborhood? Perfect for the pre-K set, this adorable rhyming text takes a walking tour of your community. The fresh modern art of Leo Timmers features hidden details and a perennial theme reminiscent of Richard Scarry. Little ones will beg to re-read again as they discover the characters who repeat throughout the art in this sweet and vibrant story.

 
My thoughts:
Absolutely no idea why this is on my list?

Verdict:  Toss


2.  Gulp:  Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach:

“America’s funniest science writer” (Washington Post) takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis? In Gulp we meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks of—or has the courage to ask. We go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a fecal transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal. With Roach at our side, we travel the world, meeting murderers and mad scientists, Eskimos and exorcists (who have occasionally administered holy water rectally), rabbis and terrorists—who, it turns out, for practical reasons do not conceal bombs in their digestive tracts.

Like all of Roach’s books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.

My thoughts: 
I really know that I need to read something by this author. Just not sure if this is the one I'll start with.  Or if I need to keep her books on my list since she is such a well-known author.

Verdict: Toss 


3.  Grace Lost by M. Lauryl Lewis:

Twenty-year-old Zoe Kate is young and naïve, and quite frankly a loner. When her lifelong friend, Adam Boggs, comes home for the summer they find themselves thrust into the middle of a zombie plague. As they flee their hometown in hopes of finding safety, they come across two other survivors, Emilie and Gus. The group of four quickly form bonds and must make difficult choices at every turn in order to stay alive. They will witness unimaginable horrors and experience unthinkable losses as life and death mix together in ways that were never meant to be. Things aren't always as they seem when God's Grace has been Lost to humanity.

(Intended for mature audiences due to language, graphic horror, and sexual content)
 

My thoughts:  
Hmm, I'll probably skip this one.

Verdict: Toss


4.  Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board by Zoe Aarsen:

McKenna Brady thinks her junior year of high school is going to be the best ever when she’s welcomed into the elite group of popular girls at Weeping Willow High School led by blond, gorgeous Olivia Richmond.

Prior to junior year, McKenna was known in her small town as the girl whose twin sister died in a tragic house fire, and she’s overjoyed at the prospect of redefining her identity. She has a date to the Homecoming dance with Olivia’s handsome older brother, and a good chance of being elected to student council. For the first time since McKenna’s parents divorced, things are looking up.

But everything changes the night of Olivia’s Sweet Sixteen sleepover birthday party. Hannah, the shy, mysterious new girl in town, suggests that the girls play a scary game called Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, during which Hannah makes up elaborate stories about the future ways in which beautiful Olivia, brassy Candace, and athletic Mischa will die. The game unsettles McKenna because she’s already escaped death once in her life, but she doesn’t want to ruin her friends’ fun. It’s only a game, she reminds herself.

But it doesn’t seem like a harmless game a week later when Olivia dies unexpectedly in a violent car crash, exactly as Hannah predicted. And something begins haunting McKenna’s bedroom at night, leaving her clues that all seem to point to Hannah. McKenna enlists the help of her cute next-door neighbor Trey in finding out exactly what kind of curse Hannah has put on all of the popular girls in the junior class.

As Hannah rises to popularity and seemingly steps into the life Olivia left unfinished, McKenna and Trey know they only have a limited amount of time to bring an end to Hannah’s game before more lives are lost.

My thoughts:  
So I picked the updated cover, as you can see it was made into a movie just recently on Hulu.  Still sounds like I might enjoy it, and since I don't have Hulu, maybe I should keep the book here?

Verdict:  Keep for now

5.   Furry Friends Forevermore by Gary Kurz:

How will we meet our beloved pets in the hereafter?

Will our pets look and act the same in heaven as they did in life? Will the reunion last for eternity or only for a precious few fleeting moments?

While coping with the loss of a cherished pet, solace can be found in knowing that one day we'll meet our furry friends in heaven. But how can the idea of eternity with our devoted companions provide comfort if we don't understand what that future will look like? Drawing on Scripture, Gary Kurz helps grieving people understand the mystery of death, painting a pragmatic, yet comforting portrait of the reunion we will have with God and our animal confidants in heaven.

Uplifting, compassionate and wise, Furry Friends Forevermore transforms grief to hope, allowing pet lovers to take comfort in the knowledge that we will indeed meet our cherished best friends once more.

Praise for Gary Kurz and Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates

"Wonderful, inspiring and comforting. . .a must read if you want to know that without a doubt you will see your pets in heaven." --Mary Buddemeyer-Porter, author of Will I See Fido in Heaven?

"A great comfort to me and all I am associated with." --Terry Hickey, Founder, Halton/Peel Pet Loss Support Group

My thoughts:
It's extremely possible I added this to my TBR about the time I lost my sweet Sydney, my first dog that was all mine, raised from a puppy.  Don't know that I need to read and be sad though.

Verdict:  Toss


6.  Thorn Abbey by Nancy Ohlin:

Nothing is as it seems in this darkly romantic tale of infatuation and possession, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

Becca was the perfect girlfriend: smart, gorgeous, and loved by everyone at New England’s premier boarding school, Thorn Abbey. But Becca’s dead. And her boyfriend, Max, can’t get over his loss.

Then Tess transfers to Thorn Abbey. She’s shy, insecure, and ordinary—everything that Becca wasn’t. And despite her roommate’s warnings, she falls for brooding Max.

Now Max finally has a reason to move on. Except it won’t be easy. Because Becca may be gone, but she’s not quite ready to let him go…

 
My thoughts:
If you know me, you know I love retellings like this. And since I've never read Rebecca, that actually makes me more intrigued to read it.  Plus I kind of like the cover.

Verdict:  Keep


7.  My Darrling by Krystal M.:

To the world, nineteen-year-old Isaac Darrling was nothing more than pure, unsalvageable evil, a sadistic serial killer on a quest for notoriety, fame.
To me, he was the love of my life.
My obsession.
My Darrling, as I called him.
This is a story about unconditional love in its rawest—and possibly sickest—form. A story that forces you to face the dark and the beautiful sides of forbidden love.


My thoughts:  
Doesn't grab me anymore.

Verdict:  Toss


 8.  Letting Ana Go by Anonymous:

In the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky, a harrowing account of anorexia and addiction.

She was a good girl from a good family, with everything she could want or need. But below the surface, she felt like she could never be good enough. Like she could never live up to the expectations that surrounded her. Like she couldn’t do anything to make a change.

But there was one thing she could control completely: how much she ate. The less she ate, the better—stronger—she felt.

But it’s a dangerous game, and there is such a thing as going too far…

Her innermost thoughts and feelings are chronicled in the diary she left behind.
 
My thoughts:
Now, when I was a teenager, Go Ask Alice was one of the most interesting books I'd ever read.  And I know this is the same type of book, so as a teenager it would probably get me.  These days I'll stick to finding the true diaries/memoirs.

Verdict:  Toss


9.  Towering by Alex Flinn:

High in my tower I sit. I watch the birds fly below, the clouds float above, and the tall green forest stretch to places I might never see.

Mama, who isn't my mother, has kept me hidden away for many years. My only companions, besides Mama, are my books—great adventures, mysteries, and romances that I long to make my reality. But I know that no one will come to save me—my life is not a fairy tale after all.

Well, at least no one has come so far. Recently, my hair has started to grow rapidly and it's now long enough to reach the bottom of the tower from my window. I've also had the strangest dreams of a beautiful green-eyed man.

When Mama isn't around, I plan my escape, even if it's just for a little while. There's something—maybe someone—waiting for me out there and it won't find me if I'm trapped here Towering above it all.
 
My thoughts:
This is an author that I like her fairy tell retellings, so I'll still want to read!

Verdict: Keep


10.  Parallel by Lauren Miller:

Your plan changes. Your destiny doesn't.

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

My thoughts:
Nothing too original

Verdict: Toss

 
11.  September Girls by Bennett Madison:

When Sam's dad whisks him and his brother off to a remote beach town for the summer, he's all for it-- at first. Sam soon realizes, though, that this place is anything but ordinary. Time seems to slow down around here, and everywhere he looks, there are beautiful blond girls. Girls who seem inexplicably drawn to him.

Then Sam meets DeeDee, one of the Girls, and she's different from the others. Just as he starts to fall for her, she pulls away, leaving him more confused than ever. He knows that if he's going to get her back, he'll have to uncover the secret of this beach and the girls who live here.


My thoughts:
So, this is one I've wanted to read for a long time. I followed this author on Twitter when I first joined a long time ago, so I kind of still want to read it, even if the synopsis is kind of vague.

Verdict: Keep


12.  Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn:

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

My thoughts:
I don't know, if I haven't gotten around to this one by now, I may never get to it.

Verdict:  Toss


13.  The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare:

Fans of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices can get to know warlock Magnus Bane like never before in this collection of New York Times bestselling tales, in print for the first time with an exclusive new story and illustrated material.

This collection of eleven short stories illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality, flamboyant style, and sharp wit populate the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

Originally released one-by-one as e-only short stories by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Rees Brennan, this compilation presents all ten together in print for the first time and includes a never-before-seen eleventh tale, as well as new illustrated material.


My thoughts:
I will have to read this at some point.

Verdict: Keep


14.  Emma vs. the Tech Guy by Lia Fairchild:

If you think you know me, you're dead wrong. Yes, I'm driven and calculating and my colleagues see me as a cold, workaholic who has stopped at nothing to create the top fashion magazine in Southern California. But working my ass off isn't the only reason I got there. And those little indiscretions used to be content hiding in the back of the closet.

Then Guy Walker enters my office. Sexy, sweet, and super popular, the new tech guy is taking our office by storm. Sure, I notice him. But I won't risk him derailing every strategy I have in place. If he gets too close, he might discover my secrets, and that could ruin my career and turn my life upside down.

This hilarious chick lit book will pull you into its world and leave you loving its fun, witty characters.

My thoughts:
This sounds like it is still fun, I need to see if I can find it!

Verdict: Keep


15.  Teardrop by Lauren Kate:

Never, ever cry...

Seventeen-year-old Eureka won't let anyone close enough to feel her pain. After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning. She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean. And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea. Suddenly her mother's death and Ander's appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don't make sense. Can everything you love be washed away?

My thoughts:
I really liked the Fallen series by this author.  I probably need to read this one as well.

Verdict: Keep


16.  eloves me eloves me not by L.A. Johannesson:

Still single at 39, Kayte Wexford has everything but Mr. Right. She has a fabulous career and interesting friends, but there’s still no one waiting at home for her but the dog.

With keyboard at the ready, she turns to technology for help, hoping online dating will finally deliver the man of her dreams.

eloves me, eloves me not is a contemporary romantic comedy that follows Kayte’s online dating adventures while focusing on the relationships of four main characters, each with their unique views on love: Kayte is the ever-hopeful romantic, Roman the consummate bachelor, Thomas is newly and skeptically single and Chloe is already living happily ever after.

Join Kayte as she meets a series of cyber-suitors and learns what she will and won’t do in the name of love. See if you can you predict where Kayte will end up and with whom.
 

My thoughts:
As much as I like the cover of this one, it has been done and redone, and done by some authors I love, so I will probably not need to go back and find this one.

Verdict:  Toss


17.  Above by Mackie Burt:

Callie Lane is your typical all-American teenager, struggling with issues of love and jealousy, boys, schoolwork, picking out the right clothes, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil and navigating her way through the straits of “growing up.” The only difference is that Callie is dead. And her world is now ABOVE.

When 17 year-old Callie’s life is suddenly cut short, she “wakes up” ABOVE, and soon discovers it’s not exactly what she expected. Still reeling from the fact that she is, in fact, no longer living, Callie learns that she’s also part of a select group of recently-passed teens fated to become Guardians.

Not only does Callie have to go to Guardian school, her dead grandmother happens to be the headmistress and the curriculum includes revisiting every mistake she’s ever made. And since no one seems to want to give her a straight answer about anything -- including the mysterious empty room next to hers -- Callie comes to realize that life ABOVE is even more confusing than the life she just left behind.

Callie must come to terms with her Watched resisting her guidance, her feelings for Logan, a boy she’s drawn to but who withholds from her, and the knowledge that she is a target for the evil that exists ABOVE. But her hardest lesson will be to understand that she has as much to give as she has to learn. Callie must choose to acknowledge and accept her gifts, embrace her fate, and become a Guardian who can make a difference that will impact the worlds below, ABOVE and beyond.

My thoughts:
Doesn't sound like anything that original.

Verdict:  Toss


18.  Isabella, Star of the Story by Jennifer Fosberry:

Every day is an adventure with Isabella!

An everyday visit to the library becomes an unexpected adventure through the pages of classic children's book favorites! Like Goldilocks, Isabella searches for a book that is juuust right.

Should she host a silly tea party in Wonderland with the Mad Hatter? Take a Technicolor trip through Oz with the Cowardly Lion? Or have a swashbuckling good time with the Lost Boys?

Join Isabella as she imagines herself in the starring role of these beloved stories and discovers the extraordinary power of reading. Anything is possible between the pages of a good book!

My thoughts:
It's a picture book, so not really me.  But I can see why I added it in case I ended up being an elementary librarian.

Verdict:  Toss


19.  The Chick Flick Project by Courtney Elliott:

Callie Nichols is fed up with constantly putting herself out there to only be rejected again and again. After her most recent failure, she comes up with a solution. She decides to start modeling her love life after all of the big screen’s most recognizable love stories. Hilarity, heartbreak, mishaps and mayhem ensue. She hopes that maybe one of them actually figured out the secret to true love. The only problem: no one ever told her that sometimes your Hollywood Happy Ending is where you least expect to find it.


My thoughts:
Eh, probably not that original.


Verdict:  Toss


20.  A Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Most Haunted Houses in America by Terrance Zepke:

In this book,you'll learn the dark and compelling history and hauntings that take place in the most haunted houses in America. This handy reference includes lots of photographs, fun facts, and visitor information. From southern California to upstate New York, our nation is full of haunted houses.

Winchester House...where the owner had a seance room and communed with spirits nightly.

Loretta Lynn Plantation...home of country music superstar Loretta Lynn and several restless spirits.

Amityville House...is it haunted or a hoax?

Whaley House...officially certified "haunted" by the U.S. government!

...and much more!

My thoughts:
So many books with all this info, as well as the internet these days.

Verdict:  Toss


Final Thoughts:
Keeping seven again this week.

I know that usually I will post how many are left this week compared to last week, but I honestly got this post done in October as part of my Blogging Ahead Challenge, so I don't have the numbers ready from last week's post, since it isn't done yet. 

Have you read any of these?  Would you suggest I keep any I'm tossing?  And if you're inspired to do this on your blog, please feel free to join in and share a link in the comments, since it will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.      
 

Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way.  You get to pick any two books from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice.  As I mentioned above, unpacking is finding a lot of books to get rid of, so you have even more to pick from this week!  Here are your choices:   

2018 ARCs:

2011-2017 ARCs:

I'm continuing to add in my 2019 ARCs now.  You can pick one of your two choices from the picture below, the other book you pick needs to come from the pictures above.  

It's possible I may have some more choices when I actually do the giveaway next week, but since I'm out of town at a conference this weekend, I didn't have time to take any better pictures.  So stay tuned!

Once again I'm going to let you pick two, along with me throwing in a surprise third book!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below.   Disclaimer:  Unfortunately, while I've only had it happen once, I'm going to have to make a statement like other giveaways I've seen on blogs that I am not responsible for lost mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Unforgiven (Fallen #5) by Lauren Kate (Series Ender Challenge #3)

First, thanks to Delacorte Publishing and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this book.  I just listened to books 2-4 in this series over the past month or so.  And then I saw this pop up on Edelweiss and I was very excited to read it.  I really have to say that I wasn't disappointed, it was a good story, and definitely a good addition to this world.  I did have one issue, that kind of kept it from being a 5 star review on Goodreads, but I'll mention that at the end of my review. 

So Luce and Daniel had their ending in Book 4.  And I really like the way we pretty much got to know how the rest of their story would go.  But how many people kind of wondered about Cam?  Cam, the bad boy, the one who started trying to seduce Luce in the first book.  In book 3, we got a glimpse of a romance that may have led to Cam being the angel he is when we first get to know him. A girl named Lilith, who he had been going to marry a long, long time ago, bibilical days I would guess.  They ended up not getting married because she would only get married in a church as that is what her family would expect. But see we learned in book 4 that the fallen angels could not go into churches.  So since he couldn't do that, they fought, because he wouldn't tell her why he didn't want to get married in the church, and they split up.  Now the story Cam had always told, isn't quite what happened, and we learn the true story in this book.

Cam finds out that Lilith is in hell, because of a deal she made with Lucifer.  And her hell is basically growing up over and over in the worst lives, and never being able to realize her dream, and then once that is over, she starts all over again.  I think that her different hells never last much longer than the amount of time Luce would get before she would die.  Cam decides after all that happened with Luce and Daniel, that maybe he wants to try again with the girl that he's never forgotten.  And so he makes another deal with the devil. That if he can get her to fall in love with him before the current hell she is in ends, he will save her from ever having to go through that again, and also get to be with her.  But if he loses, then he has to go to hell, never to leave, and to be Lucifer's right hand man.

Of course Lilith is in high school, and she is an outcast, no friends, a family with no father, a mother who is not very nice, and a younger brother with life-threatening health issues.  Cam remembers how much music was a part of Lilith before, and as her sees her here, she still loves music.  And so he enters high school, and tries to get her to start a band and perform.  Deep inside Lilith though, is the hate that she doesn't remember, but whenever she sees Cam, there is something in the back of her mind bringing it up.  And just when it seems like things might be going well, Lucifer drops in, and starts setting more obstacles in Cam's way.  Like for one thing, Cam starts aging, pot belly, losing his hair, wrinkles, and even worse, he starts getting goat/demon hooves.  Fortunately he is able to hide his feet in boots.

Cam must overcome all the obstacles and still win Lilith, basically by the prom in this hell she is in.  So many ups and downs, every time Cam seems to be ahead, some new obstacle pops up, usually put into motion by Lucifer.

As I said, a great story, a great way to spend more time with Cam.  While I always rooted for Daniel in the other books, you definitely are rooting for Cam to get the girl this time.  And after what we learned about Lucifer in the last two books, I so wanted to be able to step in and punch him every time he caused problems.

Okay, the one thing I didn't like, well I don't feel like I got a good closure, don't know what happens to the two at the end of the book like we did with Luce and Daniel.  Will they get to be together?  On Earth?  In hell?  In heaven?  I need to know!  I would love another book, although I'm not quite sure that it would take a full novel to finish the things I want to know.  Not a cliffhanger ending, just not all the things I want to know.  This is a great series, and I can't wait until next fall when the movie for the first book comes out in theaters.

Waiting on Wednesday: Unforgiven (Fallen #5) by Lauren Kate

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  While my pick is part of a series still this week, it is a book from a character's point of view that we haven't had as much from yet.  As I just finished recently the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, I was excited to see that this book would be coming soon.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

It’s the book FALLEN fans have been waiting for: Cam’s story, the brooding, bad-boy dark angel readers love.

High school can be hell.

Cam knows what it’s like to be haunted. He’s spent more time in Hell than any angel ever should. And his freshest Hell is high school, where Lilith, the girl he can’t stop loving, is serving out a punishment for his crimes.

Cam made a bet with Lucifer: he has fifteen days to convince the only girl who really matters to him to love him again. If he succeeds, Lilith will be allowed back into the world, and they can live their lives together. But if he fails…there’s a special place in Hell just for him.

Tick-tock.

Spread your wings and cry as bad boy dark angel Cam finally reveals his anguished heart in the epic new FALLEN novel, UNFORGIVEN.

I never thought I would be one to say it, but sometimes Daniel was a little too goody-goody for me.  And sometimes he had the bossiness and possessiveness that people said Edward had in Twilight, but that I didn't see.  So I'm excited to see about Cam and hopefully find out he will get some happiness as well.

So, what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?  

And while you're here, don't forget to go enter my October New Release Giveaway. 

Audiobook Review: Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate

Once again I have enjoyed another audio book downloaded through my public library using the Overdrive app.  Now, I haven't been exercising like I'm supposed to be, so I pretty much listened to this whole book in my car, with a bit on the plane rides to and from New Orleans a couple weeks ago.  While I still have issues with the narrator, by this time I'm pretty used to her voice and how she does the different characters.   All in all, I feel this was a pretty great conclusion to the whole series, even though there is now going to be a book #5.  If you haven't read the books up until this point, then I'm sorry, this will have spoilers for those books.  You can go back and read any of those reviews here:  Fallen, Torment, and Passion.  Now, on for my review of this book. (Excuse any incorrect character name spellings as I didn't read, but listened, so don't know for sure some of the spellings).

As we ended the last book with a huge possible end of the world situation going to be caused by Lucifer himself, that is exactly where we pick up again.  Turns out that there are some relics that Daniel had studied that should help them figure out where the angels' fall from heaven happened.  And that is what they must do, they must find those relics and get to the site of the fall in order to stop Lucifer from grabbing all the angels and taking them straight from the fall to the current day.  Because if they did that, all of history would be rewritten, and Luce and Daniel would never have the chance to get together, even with their curse.  So the story takes place as the angels we know and love, Daniel, Cam, Roland, Arriane, Annabelle, Molly, and Gabby, as well as Luce and her Nephilim friends Miles and Shelby, set off in search of the relics, but they come up against the Scales and the Outcasts.  They will find other obstacles, places that the relics were originally may have been moved, and other villains from the past, like Miss Sophia.  They are able to use the memories that Luce is now retrieving more easily thanks to her trips through the announcers into her past lives in the last book.  They will also find some new allies, relatives of Miss Sophia, as well as those that were once considered their enemies.  And we learn so much more about Luce, about how she and Daniel actually first met, and just why Lucifer went to so much trouble as Bill in the book before this one.

While I had an inkling about the reason for Lucifer's interference, it was nice to find the way it happened was done perfectly.  Many parts that we learned about heaven and before the fall totally reminded me of the Supernatural tv series that I love so much.  And not to offend anyone, but the part where angels were created by God for the sole purpose of adoring him, well that just really hits me in my not sure about what I think about God.  Who creates something just for that sole purpose?  It is similar to adopting a kid or buying a pet with the only thought that they will be there for you, not that you are there for them?  I don't know, that just sticks in my head.  And my complaints about the audiobook have to do with the narrator.  Once again I understand she is lowering her voice for the male characters, but often the way she did Daniel made him sound like a really dumb guy.  Just the way she did the voice, not necessarily his lines or anything specifically from the book. 

Overall, a great series, a great ending to the series as I said before.  I love the way the author ended it, I won't give that away, but I feel like it should be a very satisfactory ending and way to make sure that we know just how true the love between Daniel and Luce is.   I know that there is a #5, but it is going to be Cam's story, and that is something I'm eager to read.  Oh, on the end of the audio, there was an interview with the author, and it is funny that Cam is modeled on her husband, and they way she talks about that.  Now, I'm still waiting for the movie of the first book, and need to go do the research to find out when it will be coming to a theater near me!

Audio Book Review: Passion (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate (September Sequel Challenge #2)

Once again I downloaded the audio book from the library to go on with this story. And I really enjoyed a lot about this next part in the series.  It was filled with so many different periods in history, which was a lot of fun.  We didn't get to see all of the characters that much in this book, other than of course Luce and Daniel, although the others did show up here and there for small parts of the story.  If you haven't read this far in the series yet, you can stop here and go back and read my review of the first book, Fallen, so that I don't give you any spoilers. 

In this story we pick up right where we left off from book 2, Torment, Luce has taken off inside of an Announcer, and the others are following her, trying to find her.  Especially Daniel.  Luce is trying to understand just why do they always fall in love.  It leads to death for her every time, and horrible heartbreak for Daniel every time.  And she doesn't know just why they fell in love, or if they are just compelled to because of the curse.  And so she is going back to her past lives to try to figure out why they love each other.  Along the way she will pick up someone named Bill, a gargoyle, who is there to help her figure out what she wants to see.  She will find out in some lives she is a much different girl than she is now.  She will see Daniel in all of his different human bodies as well.  We get to see how she dies, and Luce gets to actually be inside the bodies to experience the death in some of the situations.  I loved all the reincarnations, although so many were in Europe and places other than America, even before it got into the more ancient history.  But there was World War I, and World War II.  Russia, Shakespeare's time, ancient Mayans, and the one I was beginning to wonder if they'd have, ancient Egypt.

The whole time Daniel is following her, always showing up just right after she's left it seems.  And he is just hoping that she won't do something that could mess up all of history, including their love.  In the end, they will find each other, but it will be after something horrible is about to be set in motion.  You see the devil himself will show up, and he will have something to say about this whole thing with Luce and Daniel, and his own wants.  And we'll be left waiting to find out how the gang will fight him, and whether Luce and Daniel's love will really survive, and if they can finally break the curse.

I liked it better than the first two, although there were still moments I wanted to smack Luce, and moments that Daniel was still kind of a controlling jerk.  But again, I'm so ready to read the next book and find out what happens.  Or should I say listen to the next book.  I also heard there is going to be a 5th book, told from Cam's point of view.  And does anyone know when the movie comes out?  I thought it was this fall, but I haven't seen any previews for it.