Silence (Hush, Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I only gave this 4 out of 5 stars. But that's more on me, than the quality of the book. It was good, but it feels like so long ago that I read the first 2 books, or maybe just so many books that I've read since, I was a little lost at first. Kind of like Nora. We get a quick flash at the beginning back to what was happening at the end of the last book, enough to make me think I needed to go back and re-read it, because I was a little unclear about some of the details. But fortunately, the author is nice enough to give us Nora's flashbacks, as she's remembering, as well as when she can get into Patch's memories through his wing scars, and that helped to catch me up. I also for some reason don't seem to remember Nora being such a goody goody as she thinks she is in this book. I may have to go back and read the first one again. I just didn't get that from her the first time I read it. But, I have to admit, that I do connect with that side of Nora a little bit more. As I was quite the goody goody as a teenager. But I like how the story goes in this one. We're introduced to some bad guys towards the beginning that I was sure would show up again, but they didn't really seem to till the end. There were some scary moments with them though, until Jev showed up. And I really want to know what Jev stands for now. Nora's best friend hides the whole thing about Patch from her, as well as her mother, who is now dating Nora's worst enemy's (Marcy Millar) father. And not only is he a car salesman, and one of the richest men in town, he is also the Black Hand. Which Nora finally starts getting clued back into after her encounter with those bad guys I was talking about, Gabe and others, and then when she meets up with her childhood friend, Scott. Who is also a Nephilim, who is hiding from Hank, because he does not want to swear fealty and have to give up his body.
The archangel we meet at the end of the story and what she has to say to Patch and Nora sets us up for the last book in the series. And I was left needing to know what would happen. Will Nora step in to take over for her "father" Hank's army, and will she end the war, or will she have to lead the rebellion as he asked? All in all this was a good next book, and now I'm ready for what I'm sure will be an awesome Finale!!

And, I have to include my picture from meeting Becca Fitzpatrick this summer at BEA.

And my blurry photos of the hot angels walking around the line we stood in while we waited to meet her!

This is my 4th sequel of the month, so I've reached my minimum I set for anyone participating, but I'm guessing in about a week or so I won't get 4 more read.  :-(

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this at BEA this year. When I first saw the cover, I did a bad thing, I judged it. And not that the cover isn't really neat looking, it just didn't look like a type of book I'd want to read. So I didn't ever bother to pick it up and read the synopsis on the back. But then I began following a new blogger, Book Hounds YA, and at the top of her blog she has a quote from the book that immediately made me put it on my TBR list: "You'd have to have, like, a lentil for a soul to hate wiener dogs. ~Zuzana" And boy am I glad I did!!!
The minute I picked up this book I was immediately interested in the characters, the witty banter, the non-paranormal sounding beginning, and what was going on. And I really didn't know what kind of book this was going to be, there were creatures, Chimaera, and angels or Seraphim. But it seemed the angels were to be the bad guys. Beautiful bad guys, but still. It seemed the main character, Karou, a strange name, but it means "hope", didn't have really anything supernatural about her. She could make wishes with beads she got from Brimstone, her father figure you could say. And he set up portals so she could travel around the world quickly to get things he needed for his work. But that was about it. Otherwise she was pretty normal. She went to art school with her friend Zuzana in Prague. Her best friend is a good friend, the sarcastic kind of friend I love.
I don't want to give a lot away, but we soon learn about what the angels are wanting, although one of them, Akiva, seems to have a strange attraction to Karou, and she to him. But they don't know why, and Akiva wonders about it, when Brimstone is his enemy. Karou has recently been through an interesting relationship ending with a guy, and so doesn't want to trust these crazy feelings, and holds out. Until, soon, through an ordinary object, a wishbone, Akiva understands, and uses it to show Karou the same.
Great story, loved it! Loved the characters, loved the world built by the author. Loved, loved, loved! And while the quote that Book Hounds YA has on their site I also love, it unfortunately was followed by the statement that Zuzana hated wiener dog owners. Which I am one, so not too keen on that part. :-) But I do love the whole conversation that this is a part of, it seems like something I would do and say sometimes. And I just love a book that I can connect with the characters in this way.
I also got a little sneak preview at the sequel booklet with this.  So I'll be reading that soon, I think.  Sometimes I'd almost rather wait until the whole book comes out to read.

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

Angelfall by Susan Ee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of the ARCs I got at BEA this past June. I took it because it sounded interesting, and it was a good read. I debated between a 4 and 5 when I first rated it, but since then I've decided to stick with the 4, and I'll explain why in a bit.
Our main character is 17-year-old Penryn, yeah, kind of a strange name, and a little weird to say in my head as I was reading. But unique! We begin in the future, after the angels have come to Earth and attacked humans. We don't know why they did this, or why some people are still alive, like Penryn and her mother and sister. They have decided to leave their home in search of a better, maybe even safer place to live. Her sister Paige is in a wheelchair. So that is one obstacle to travel. Another obstacle, is that they must travel during the night. The daytime is now when the human gangs are in charge. At night of course people are more scared because of the dark, and angels, etc. So as they start out, they get just a little ways when all of a sudden they see an angel come crashing down, being chased by other angels. The ones ganging up on this angel cut his wings off. Penryn feels that she must try to help, and so jumps out for a distraction, also hoping her mom and sister can get away while she distracts them. Unfortunately, Penryn's mom is a bit out of it, and doesn't think to grab Paige's wheelchair. So as Paige tries to get away on her own, one of the angels grabs her out of her wheelchair and flies away with her. Penryn now must find her sister, and obviously her mother won't be any help. So she decides that she must keep track of this angel and use him to get her sister back. She takes his wings as something to try to hold over him. Which does work.
The angel is Raffe. He doesn't want her help, but ends up finally giving in to a point. They travel to where he says her sister will be. Getting kidnapped at one point by a human resistance group. Luckily they have the sense to hide Raffe's wings, and when he's dressed, you can't tell he is an angel, other than just how drop dead gorgeous he is. Eventually they are able to get away from the resistance group, but they have gotten some info and made some friends here who will be helpful when they reach their final destination.
I won't give anymore away. Just to say that I like that Penryn's character is a strong girl. She's had to be, her home life wasn't great. You get to find that out through the story. The attraction/bond between her and Raffe unfolds at a reasonable pace. It's obvious she would be attracted to Mr. Perfection in looks. He has a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor that I liked as well. But he doesn't seem to care for her quite to the same degree, but enough to save her several times. I'm glad to hear that this is a sequel, as the ending leaves you really hanging.
I don't quite understand what the angels are doing in their lab at the final destination, I really am interested in the reasoning behind that. Also, Raffe thinks he'll get other angels to put his wings back on, and I want to see what happens with what they do to him at that point.
A good story, but once again, reading it before it is published only makes it that much more torture to now have to wait for the next book in the series to be released.

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Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I got to read the first book in this series, Unearthly as an ARC a few months before it came out the beginning of this year. So I'm glad I was able to get this egalley from Netgalley and HarperTeen. It means the amount of time between reading them is the same for people who wait for each book to come out, and I like that. This was probably the 2nd angel series I read, I gave it a try after I liked Hush, Hushand I enjoyed it as well. In this book we jump in about where we left off. Clara is with Tucker, the boy she decided to save in the book before, even though her purpose seemed to be directing her to save Christian, who it turned out was also an angel-blood. Tucker knows the basics about Clara being an angel. In this book though, Clara gets a new vision, and since she's sure she failed her purpose, she thinks that it will be someone she loves who dies. She soon finds out that it will be, but not who she first imagines. And when she finds this out, it leads to all sorts of changes in her life. But the Black Wing from the first book is back. But her father also comes back. And she learns all sorts of things about herself, as well as angels in general. And her brother is hiding something, we do find out what, but still unsure quite why he is acting the way he is, we are left wondering at the end.

Once I got back into the book and remembered all from the first book, I got sucked back in and it was a book I had trouble putting down. So I'm sure people who enjoyed the first one will be glad to pick this one up. It actually left me ready to read the next in the series, which I'm sure there will have to be.



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Waiting on Wednesday - New Style

Okay, what I mean by "New Style" is that I know I'm not doing the exact correct thing here, but I'm so far behind on reading since school started back in August, that I kept thinking about how many new books were out that I'd been waiting on, but hadn't had the time to read them yet. So, hopefully Jill at Breaking the Spine doesn't mind too much if I veer off course this week. Instead of choosing one book that is not published yet that I'm eagerly awaiting, I want to share the books that have recently been published but I haven't had time to read them yet.

First is The Death Cure by James Dashner. This is the 3rd, and as far as I know at the moment, final book in the Maze Runner series. According to bn.com:
Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

Second is Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick, the 3rd, and I think final in the Hush Hush series. According to bn.com: The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past...bridged two irreconcilable worlds...faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust...and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for—and their love—forever.

Third is The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. I enjoy following Maureen Johnson on Twitter, she is so funny. And I've read a few of her others, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, Devilish, to name a few. The 3rd one was the closest to my normal type of book, I mean paranormalish. But this new one sounds really in my area, and I did get it for my birthday, so it will be one of the next ones I read. According to bn.com:
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.
Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Fourth is First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles #1) by Heather Brewer. I loved her Vladmir Tod series. I love following her on Twitter, and I was so excited to get to meet her last spring! I was so excited when I heard about this series which will fill in the summers between the Vlad Tod books, but from Joss, the vampire slayer's, point of view. Here is the summary according to bn.com: Joss McMillan’s perfect life crashes down the night he witnesses his sister’s murder — at the hands of a vampire. He then finds out his family’s secret heritage: They are part of the Slayer Society, a group whose mission is to rid the world of vampires. Joss is their new recruit. As Joss trains, bent on seeking revenge for his sister, he discovers powers that could make him the youngest, strongest Slayer in history. But there is a traitor in the Society, one whose identity would shake Joss to the core . . . if the traitor doesn’t kill him first.
With over a million copies already in print, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is still sinking its fangs into new readers every day. Now, bestselling author Heather Brewer brings us the other side of the story, from the perspective of Vlad’s former friend turned mortal enemy: vampire slayer Joss McMillan. This is the first in a series of five books that can be read alongside Vlad Tod or entirely on their own.

The 5th book I came up with, and I know there are many more, is The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore. This is the sequel to I Am Number Four, which I only picked up to read in the first place due to some of the controversy about who the author really was. I'll let you do some research into that on your own if you're interested enough. Here is the storyline according to bn.com:
I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us.
Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?
They caught Number One in Malaysia.Number Two in England.And Number Three in Kenya.They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.
I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.
And I'm ready to fight.

So, as I said, I hope that the blog who does this meme isn't upset with me for diverging from the normal way of doing this for this week. I just really wanted to do a blog about this, and it felt kind of like I was "waiting" so I decided it fit perfectly under "Waiting On Wednesday" because instead of waiting for a book to be published, I'm waiting to have the time to read them!

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 3.1 Part 1

Okay, this is either going to be really long, or I'm going to split it into a few. This is a collection of papers from working 3 days last week and 2 this week. And at first I thought I didn't find many, but I did. I found 8 (edit, only 7, 2nd book I was going to list I didn't write an author, so not sure of it). So, I'm making an executive decision right now, this will be two separate posts.
First is Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. This is an adult fiction. It begins in England, 1888. In this retelling of Dracula, he is married to Queen Victoria and basically is ruling England, turning it into an undead country. There is also another race of vampires, and a detective from this group is trying to solve the Jack the Ripper murders. I like the themes of Jack the Ripper, that is a story that has fascinated me since the movie From Hell, and the book written by Patricia Cornwell. This sounds to be another story also where vampires are trying to live among the world, similar in a way to the Sookie Stackhouse series, just at a much earlier time in history.




Second is Original Sin by Lisa DesRochers, which I guess is second in the Personal Demons series. Don't remember the first one, but this is a story about a girl named Frannie, who is kind of a good Catholic girl until her senior year when a boy named Luc enrolls in her school. She's instantly attracted to him. But he's there on a mission to take her soul back to hell, all he has to do is get her to sin. Soon the angel Gabriel shows up to try to save her soul. Sounds like a love triangle to me. And I like the use of the angels' names in this.






Third is Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George, which after looking up on Goodreads I guess is 2nd in a series as well! I've got a lot to get caught up on! Anyway, it sounds like a retelling of a fairy tale in a way, and I've really been getting to where I enjoy these. I think my enjoyment started with Gregory Maguire's dark retelling of Cinderella and Wizard of Oz. But those were so involved that these are better in a way to me. This is another retelling of Cinderella with some changes. Looks like the 1st in this series was another take of the 12 Dancing Princesses, another fairy tale I really like.
That's all for this blog. Part 2 will have 4 books from this week. All these were from working last week.
Have you read any of these? Would you recommend I keep them on my TBR list?

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 2.4 Part 2

Okay, finally getting around to adding another post about this. Hoping this one will get posted as soon as I'm done, as I have 5 books to actually review as well.

First is Mercy by Rebecca Lim. This is another angel story. Our main character is Mercy, who wakes up and can't remember who she is. She finds out that she is one of the angels who was thrown out of heaven for supporting Lucifer. Now, to get back to heaven, she must help out a bunch of people. I think this is going to be a series. I've had luck with 2 angel stories, the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick, as well as Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. And in a way, the whole Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare is actually about angels too. So I'll add this to my list of angel stories to read.

Second is Ark by Stephen Baxter. In looking this up to talk about it, I see that it is a sequ

el to another book called Flood. The whole story is that the sea levels begin rising, flooding the world. Now, normally, I'm not a believer in the whole global warming thing, but this story isn't necessarily all about that, it actually sounds like an interesting story. I've read other books by Stephen Baxter, so look forward to reading this one as well.

Finally is Treasures From The Attic by Mirjam Pressler. Especially after I just finished the book called Surviving the Angel of Death about twins who survived the holocaust and experiements by Dr. Mengele, I am very ready to read this book. This as you may guess from the title is about Anne Frank, the famous holocaust diary written in an attic. A daughter in law goes to clean her mother in laws attic when she dies, and finds a treasure trove of Anne Frank artifacts. The family didn't know that they were a part of history, and learn from what they find.

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 1.6

There were actually some real hazards, or should I say irritations at work last night. But as my blog is about the books that I want to buy after working, I won't go into those things. Both books I'm going to talk about in this blog are Teen books. Not that I got to spend much time in that section last night, but I did see these as I was straightening.

First is Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster. It is a science fiction story. The main character's name is Kyle. Kyle goes to a hypnotism show and agrees to go up on stage and get hypnotized. When he wakes up, everyone other than those hypnotized are different. In a way, they've evolved, or in technological terms, they've been updated. Telephones, TV's, Computers, none of them really work anymore, although there is a strange language running across them. All the other humans are kind of zombie like. I can't wait to read this one. I will either check it out, or a Nook again soon, to read it on.

The 2nd book is called A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford. It is a "paranormal romance" according to my bookstore. I'd call it another angel story. Our main characters name is Eden, fitting then that she is going to be swept up by a fallen angel named Az. I'm not exactly sure what happens, but I know that somehow Eden ends up not being actually living, or dead, and is sucked in to the battle between heaven and hell. Some reviews I've found mention maybe ghosts? I don't know, but the plot sounds good, and I also see it is a planned trilogy. So again, something I'll be checking out soon.

2011 Debut Author Challenge 2: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

I read this book as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge being sponsored by Kristi over at The Story Siren. And actually, this was not on the original list I posted when I signed up to do this. However, the ARC was sitting on the table at the bookstore, so I decided to pick it up and read it. And boy am I glad I did!

This is another book about angels on Earth. At first, I almost didn't read it. I did love the book Hush, Hush and it's sequel Crescendo, and I like the tv show Supernatural which has had an angel storyline for a few years now, but I wasn't sure if I could get into another angel story.

But once I got to reading this story, I was hooked. I had to know. Our main character is Clara Gardner, who has learned she is part angel, 1/4 to be specific. Her mother is 1/2. When angels get to a certain age, they start getting visions of their purpose. In Clara's vision she sees a boy from the back, who is in a forest fire, and she feels really sad. Every time Clara has the vision she sees a little more, and soon she is able to find out where this is going to happen. So she moves with her mom and younger brother to Wyoming. Here she sees the truck that was in her vision, and meets the boy she is to save. It's not forest fire season yet, so she knows there is time to figure out the where and how. And she also has to continue to learn her powers, like flying. In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Clara will meet lots of interesting characters, and learn more about being an angel. It's definitely a romance, a triangle of course. And I know exactly who I'm rooting for, and it's not who you'd probably think.

I'm hoping/assuming that there will be a sequel to this, especially based on how it ended. But I highly recommend it to anyone who is a Twilight fan, Hush Hush fan, or any type of supernatural romance fan.

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Now, it's been awhile since I read Hush, Hush, the first book in this series. Part of the reason it has been so long is because I read that as an ARC, and then when this came out, I was busy reading for other things, like the Gateway Award. But finally, still with my borrowed Nook, I decided to go ahead and read Crescendo.

I was afraid at first that I was going to have to give a not so great review as the one I gave for Hush Hush. But, soon, I was sucked into the book, to the point where all I could think about was getting back to read and find out what happened next. In fact, I hate that I didn't have time for a 15 minute break at work last night, because I was thinking about the book all night. So, as soon as I got home, I went to bed, but I stayed up reading until I finished it. Now, don't read on if you haven't read Hush Hush, because there will be some spoilers here.

Where we left off, Patch had saved Nora from being sacrificed so a fallen angel could become human. Patch was a fallen angel, but in doing so, he was given a chance to be a guardian angel again, and they assigned him to Nora. In this book, we are led back to Nora's father's death, and how does it connect to what is happening to her right now. You see, Nora comes from a line of Nephilim, which are the human hosts for the fallen angels to use every year for two weeks. All of a sudden, Nora's enemy, Marcie, has become a major part in her life. And for some reason, Patch starts pulling away, and hanging around Marcie. Her best friend Vee has started dating Patch's best friend Rixon, which leads to some awkwardness, as now that Nora has broken up with Patch, Vee is around him all the time. A friend/enemy/neighbor from the past moves back to town, a boy named Scott. His mother and Nora's mother are best friends. It seems Scott got into some trouble back where they had moved. Nora finds that Scott has a scar showing he is a Nephilim. She begins hanging out with him, for many reasons, because her mom wants her to at first, then because she thinks Scott may know something about who or what happened to her father.

I do have to say, the book was good, because I didn't catch on to who the actual bad guy was in this book until right before he made his move. I like when a book keeps me guessing like that. The only bad thing, well, it left off on a big cliffhanger, and now I'm waiting for the next book in the series! I want to try to wait until series are all out sometimes, like I read the whole Moral Instruments series book at one time. And I'm waiting to read the Clockwork Angel pre-series to that until the rest of those books are out. But in this case, I am glad I read it, it was a very good sequel. I also think that angels are the new vampires/werewolves for romances.