Saturday 30 April 2011

Book Review- Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy


 Title: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
 Author: Thomas Hardy
Series: N/A
 Published: My edition: 7 April 2011. First published some time in 1884
 Length : 464 pages
Warnings:  references to rape, child outside wedlock,
 Other info: Thomas Hardy has written a lot more books. Click here for details. According to Goodreads, there’s 364 editions of this book. I read this because its an Orange Inheritance title, chosen in 2011. Couldnt make this review spoiler free, highlight over the blocks of text to reveal spoilers.
Summary (from back of book, the part that’s relevant) :Tess is an innocent young girl until the day she goes to visit her rich ‘relatives’, the D’Urbervilles. Her encounter with her manipulative cousin, Alec, leads her onto a path that is beset with suffering and betrayal. When she falls in love with another man, Angel Clare, Tess sees a potential escape from her past, but only if she can tell him her shameful secret…
 Review: Nothing seemed to happen in chapter 1. Ok, a major thing happens; it’s what sets off the whole chain of events, but still. It just seemed like a plain description, and to start with it’s hard to get into.
The first point I felt really strongly is at Tess’s rape. As a girl in 2011, I just thought the way Alec treated Tess was horrible. Because it was. I also got a bit sad when Sorrow, the child, gets buried.
I don’t think Tess’s days as a milk-maid really needed to go into that much detail. I get that they’re the best days of her life and that she properly meets Angel, the guy who marries her them runs off, but apart from that, nothing really interesting happens and it dragged on a bit too long.
I stopped liking Angel when he left Tess just because she had sex before marriage. Even though he'd done it too, whilst drunk. Tess wasn’t even consenting. The hypocrite. I started liking him a little more when he went looking for her at the end though.  I think Tess is perfectly justified in sending him away after all he put her through.
I know not everyone shares the same sense of humour as me, but I laughed a lot at Mrs Brooks' reaction to finding Alec's body. I think Tess was justified a little in what she did, as it is Alec's fault her marriage came undone and her whole life went down the drain.
I like Tess a lot. She’s feisty, and stands up for herself, which of course ends up in murder.
Even before he raped her, I never liked Alec. I didn’t like his personality and I liked him even less after he raped Tess. His death was pretty satisfying.
Angel, at times I liked him, at times I didn’t. I’ve already gone through that. I ended up liking him and the way he supported Tess after she killed Alec.
I still don’t get what it is with the Queens of Diamonds and Spades. I get that they’re names for some other girls, but I don’t see how they fit in after when they’re brought in at the start of the book.
Also, I'm not sure whether it’s because of Hardy failing to explain it, or just my really bad geography skills, but I didn’t realise until they reached the place that the book is set somewhere near Stonehenge.
The descriptions get better as the book goes on. They’re very long, which gives a clear image of what happens. The plot and the pace- at times it was extremely boring and nothing really happened, while at other times, there was a lot going on that made me really want to read on.


Overall:  I give this strength 4 tea because it was a really interesting story and much better than I thought it would be.



Friday 29 April 2011

Book Hop #6

Book Blogger Hop The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books where we get to go visit other blogs.
Welcome to Death Books and Tea, where we review young adult books, mainly those with a little death in it, while enjoying tea. Current favourite books of ours are Black Butler, Hetalia, and the Chronicles of Nick.
As you're here, I'd like to saythat if you want to swap some books and you are in the UK, I have some books that you may want. Its a pretty random selection, so look here for details.

And on with this week's question...
Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?
First, what actually counts as summer? I'm going to say June to August because that makes it easy. Now... There's loads of summer releases I'm looking forwards to!
Theres this weeks WoW, Falling for Hamlet. Theres Alice inthe Country of Hearts volume 6. There's Forbidden, book 2 in the Demon Trappers series. And there's Anna Dressed in Blood.
And theres a lot more, but I won't name them now.

So what do you think? Leave a link and I'll  visit you some day.
Nina xxx

Thursday 28 April 2011

Book Review- She Smells the Dead by E.J.Stevens

 Title: She Smells the Dead
Author: E.J.Stevens
Series:  Spirit Guide #1
 Published: 2010 by Sacred Oak Press
 Length: 178 pages
Warnings: kissing, werewolves, ghosts,
 Other info:  The next book in the series is Spirit Storm, which will be reviewed once I’ve read it. E.J. Stevens has also written From the Shadows, a collection of poetry. Here is a link to her site From the Shadows, a book review blog, and you can also find her on Twitter.
Summary : It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like on TV. SHE SMELLS THE DEAD. Yuki is being visited in her dreams and suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. Will Yuki be able to save the spirits and herself?
 Review: we begin by meeting Yuki,who tells us she can smell the dead. She also tells us what its like smelling the dead, about her friend Calvin, about her nickname and about her aspired love life. A very interesting first page.  It gets better. We learn that at a random summer camp, they find out that Calvin’s spirit animal is a  wolf and Yuki’s is a scarab beetle. Applauding E J Stevens for incorporating a dung beetle into paranormal romance: it has probably never been done before and I highly doubt it will ever be done again.  Yuki’s dead-smelling comes into play really quickly, she smells vinegar and decides that it is because she can smell the ghost of Jackson Green. Yuki, Calvin and other friends start investigating, and believe that he was murdered. They of course try to figure out what happened to him, and end up using a Ouija board in a notepad to contact him. On a side note, Calvin is basically a were-wolf, and his and Yuki’s spirit animals, ie  a wolf and a scarab beetle, are bound together.
The idea was very good- original and as I said before, I’ve never read a book where the heroine’s connected animal is a scarab beetle. I liked the characters which were easy to connect to and believeable. Yuki was funny and slightly sarcastic. There was a lot of description in She Smells the Dead, which wasn’t fed in a boring this and this and this way. The whole book, written from Yuki’s POV was very easy to get through and fun.
The mystery is well written, and the methods of attempting to solve it were fun. The basic Ouija board was interesting, as was the way Jackson(the ghost) communicates. however the mystery ends about two thirds of the way through which I think is a bit disappointing. Considereing it was brought in at the very beginning of the story, I think it would have been more interesting if it had been cleaned up at the very end.
I liked Wolf Camp, where Yuki goes to try and learn about her spirit animal. I got a good feel of the atmosphere here with the description, and the things that happen are interesting and unique. Again, strong characters here.
The final third was emphasised on romance- prom and the dangers of it being too close to a full moon. I think you can guess what happens, what with Calvin being a werewolf. This bit, was interesting, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Yuki and co solving Jackson’s mystery or Wolf Camp. The romancy bit was well written, and not over done.
Overall:  I give this strength four tea: good concept, good characters, good writing, good fun. A quick read that I want to read more of.
Thank you very much to E.J. Stevens for sending me this book, and Spirit Storm (book 2) ,as a late Teen Lit Day present!

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Book Swapping, Anyone? UK only.

So, anyone in the willing to do a bookswap? It has to be in the UK only because otherwise I wont be able to afford shipping. I won’t join Read it Swap it because I just wouldn’t have the time to keep up, but on my blog I think I’ll do ok with replying and keeping up. I know other  that Cait is also willing to swap books...anyone else with books to swap should leave a comment.

Here's a list of the books I have available in vague order of condition, with tatty books at the top of the list and like-new books at the bottom. Here goes...

-Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett 
-Bec by Darren Shan
-WBD Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades/horrible histories by Rick Riordan and Deary
-Dream Chaser by Sherrilyn  Kenyon*
-Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
-The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance anthology *
-One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost*
-Blade of Fire by Stuart Hill
-percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

 
-On the Edge by Richard Hammond
-Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K Hamilton *
-One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon *
-Born of Ice by Sherrilyn Kenyon *
-The Merrybegot by Julie Hearn
-Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
-Runemarks by Joanne Harris
-A Twist in the Tale by Jeffery Archer*  
-The Cat who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
-A girl's Guide to Vampires by Katie MacAlister*
-Hunters of the Dusk by Darren Shan
-Allies of the Night by Darren Shan
-Dark Callins by Darren Shan
-Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott*
-Antidote by Malorie Blackman
-Killers of the Dawn by Darren Shan
-Bizenghast vol 1 by Alice leCrow
-Chibi Vampire vol 11 by Yuna Kagesagi
-The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose by Mary Hooper^
-The Fever and the Flame by Mary Hooper ^
-The Glass Demon by Helen Grant ^
-The Story of Martha by Dan Abnet

* means its not suitable for younger readers.
^means its signed. Please note the Mary Hooper books were signed to me and have my name in them. I'm giving them away because i read them, enjoyed them and won't read them again.

So what do you think? If you want to organise a swap, leave a comment with your email address or email me.
Yay for book swapping! <3

Waiting on Wednesday (9) Falling for Hamlet



 Waiting on Wednesday is  a weekly bookish meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we show off books that we want to read but have not been published yet.

Title: Falling for Hamlet
Author: Michelle Ray
Release Date: 5 July 2011
Goodreads: Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.
Why I want it: Because I love classics redone, I love Hamlet (the story of) and I love Ophelia and all the art connected to her. Plus I'm interested to see how Michelle Ray gets around the whole Ophelia drowning bit, seeing as thats quite a major part in the original.

What are other people waiting on this week?

TEA TIME TALK: I have books I want to swap, for all those people in the UK. Interested? Look here for details.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Book Review- Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

 Title: Paranormalcy
 Author:Kiersten White
Series:Paranormalcy #1
 Published: January 6th 2011 by HarperCollins
 Length:320 pages
Warnings:violence, a fair amount of weapons, kissing
 Other info:The second book in the series will be published later in the year and a third is planned. You can find Kiersten White on twitter and facebook, and can find her website here.
Summary :Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.
Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
 Review: The opening was brilliant, funny and different to the normal heroine-fights-paranormal books. Evie, our heroine, has been sent on a mission from the IPCA, an agency dealing with making paranormal creatures safe by doing things such as sterilising werewolves and using Faerie names to control them. Anyway, Evie  has been sent on this mission,  which is to bring in a roughe vampire. She does so with an ankle tracker, sharp retorts and a taser gun. Points earnt for the taser. After this, we meet a whole load of paranormals: Lish the mermaid, Reth the faerie, Jaques the werewolf and Lend the shapeshifter unlike anything we’re used to.  The first part of the book is us getting to know the characters pretty well, especially  Lend and Evie. Lend has broken into IPCA headquarters, earning himself a cell, which Evie visits constantly. This is where most of the romance comes from, in case your wondering.  Come on, you knew there’d be some. And the other point in the mandatory love triangle is Reth. Just needed to clear that up.  Also in the beginning of the book is…erm…yeah, it s just really character introductions.
Things get going about halfway through when someone else breaks in to IPCA, this time going on a quick killing spree. Evie and Lend escape, like Reth, and some others, who we never really see again,. Evie and Lend go back to his place, we meet some more paranormals  and also we find out who the killer is. Its Vivian, an Empty One who is scarily similar to Evie.
Anyway, things happen and it all comes down to a fairly dramatic showdown with Evia and Lend vs Vivian and an uncontrollable faerie. Then Evie finally discovers what she is exactly and the final scene is a typical boy/girl in love happy romance scenee. Fun.
I liked Evie’s world a lot.its interesting, and different to most. Everything had a reason behind it, and it was pretty believable- as believeable as a world where paranormal creatures are walking around can be.
There were a lot of unexpected twists and turns. They kept it fast flowing and action packed.
Evie’s narration was good- fully descriptive, and friendly, like any teenage girl. Especially at the start, it was witty anad funny. however, I think as she fell further in love (that the right expression? Probably not. Oh well), she lost some of the sass and sharpness that made me like her a lot. Not to say I didn’t like her at all, its just the character got weaker as the book went on.
The romance wasn’t particularly well written- from the beginning it was pretty obvious who she would end up with.  The romance scenes took up about half of the book, which I think is a bit too much for something with a blurb that promises more mystery etc. Or maybe its just me and my dislike for overly romantic stuff. I don’t know.
Overall: I give this Strength 3 tea because while it started off really well  but got a little less interesting as it went on. recommended to those who like paranormal romance a lot, and don’t care too much about the fighting-heroine side of things.


Monday 25 April 2011

Book review: The Dead by Charlie Higson



Title: The Dead

Author: Charlie Higson

Length:

Published: 16th September 2010

Publisher: Puffin

Warnings: Violence and strong language

Summary: A terrible disease is striking everyone over the age of fourteen. Death walks the streets. Nowhere is safe. Maxie, Blue and the rest of the Holloway crew aren't the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids, nerds, fighters, misfits. And one adult. Greg, a butcher, who claims he's immune to the disease. They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world. But as a fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won’t all survive.

Review: It seems that Charlie Higson is back with his zombie wannabes. I thought I would read this for a laugh, expecting it to be in the same category as “The Enemy” (you read, you think “how nice”, you put it down, you make tea, you drink tea, you come back, you repeat steps until the end of the book, you forget). I was sort of wrong. It was more engaging and was set at a better time to join the apocalypse (near the beginning). The characters were better and I thought that most of them had some depth but I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Kwanele as he was a comical character but he was more background character than a supporting character – he just exists. Charlie Higson has definately improved since "The Enemy" and I would like to congratulate him.


Hey Mr. Higson. Congrats! Sort of...


Now that that's over and done with I would like to point out that the blurb is rubbish. Greg never said he was immune. He said that he didn’t know and he didn’t care.

Rating: 3 A bit like rooibos tea. An imposter but bought by many people.

Sunday 24 April 2011

Hi everyone!

Happy Easter!
Even if you are not a religious person please take advantage of the amount of chocolate that will be very cheap a few days from now!
Remember not to argue with the evil bunnies!

^^ From Katy

From Nina: Yes people, enjoy Easter. And Happy Birthday to those who's birthday it is today. Like my mother's. Happy Easter everyone.

Book review: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty

Author: Libba Bray

Length: 403 pages

Published: 9th December 2003

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books

Warnings: Suggestive situations, reference to alchol, violence

Summary: Gemma Doyle, sixteen and proud, must leave the warmth of her childhood home in India for the rigid Spence Academy, a cold finishing school outside of London, followed by a stranger who bears puzzling warnings. Using her sharp tongue and agile mind, she navigates the stormy seas of friendship with high-born daughters and her roommate, a plain scholarship case. As Gemma discovers that her mother's death may have an otherworldly cause, and that she herself may have innate powers, Gemma is forced to face her own frightening, yet exciting destiny . . . if only she can believe in it.

Review: I read this book because Nina forgot what happened in it. It lives up to my first impression of it: Nina the genius forgot what happened in it = I will forget about it. The characters were cliché, the events were cliché, the plot was predictable and the* (SPOILER).The characters were so stupid at times that I couldn't understand why the took certain actions to the extent that I didn't really care when **(SPOILER). That's not very good. I thought the characters were together because of their own personal benifit and that the didn't really care about eachother that The idea of the main characters shadowing the actions of people in the past old one but I thought that the way it was linked to the main characters was decent and explained well. The scenes in the garden was alright at first but I thought that Gemma argued with her mother too much and that it slowed down the pacing of the plot.



Rating: 1

Spoilers- highlight them to read
*death of Pippa was poorly executed

**Pippa died**

In My Mailbox (3)


 In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren where we get to show off what books we got. 

Once again, I got a large collection of books. At this rate, I’m not going to be able to keep up....
From the library
-          Full Metal Alchemist vol 1 by Hiromu Arakara
-          Forsaken by Jana Oliver
-          Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison
-          Bloody Kiss vol 1 by Kazuko Furumiya
-          Pegasus and the Flame by Kate O’Hearn
-          The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
-          The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
-          Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin

And this is what I bought when I went to London.
-          Lenore Rebirth vol. 1 by Roman Dirge
-          Grand Guingol Orchestra vol. 1 by Yuki Kaori
-          Alice in the Country of Hearts vol. 5 by QuinRose
-          Hetalia vol. 2 by Hidekaz Himaruya
My thoughts.... I’m already halfway through the Death Defying Pepper Roux and I’m really enjoying it....I’ve already read Alice in the Country of Hearts and will review it some day....I got Hetalia vol.2 because I’m still waiting for the library to process volume 1...I’m taking Grand Guingol Orchestra on holiday so I won’t review that until some time in June...I got The Death Defying Pepper Roux and Prisoner of the Inquisition because they’re shortlisted for the Carnegie Award....I’ve been waiting for ages to read Forsaken and Once Dead Twice Shy so I’m looking forward to that...I know Lenore isn’t really a book (its got about 30 pages, if that) because its a comic, but there are collections (Noogies, Wedgies, Cooties) that I’ll review some day.
Thats my mailbox this week. What did you get this week?

And on a side note, have you noticed the banner? Big thanks, hugs and cake goes to Emily Happywise and Miley Madwise, who drew the Grim Reaper enjoying a book and a cup of tea. We (Katy and I) attempted to do this, but both looked funny and Emily offered to draw one for us. Which turned out much much  better. Anyway, Emily, (and Miley), we love you! Check out their blog here!

Friday 22 April 2011

Book review: The Enemy by Charlie Higson


Title: The Enemy
Author: Charlie Higson
Length: 384 pages
Published: 1st September 2009
Publisher: Pengiun UK
Warnings: Violence and strong language
Summary from goodreads: They'll chase you. They'll rip you open. They'll feed on you...When the sickness came, every parent, policeman, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive. Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through t
he city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait. But can they make it there - alive?
Review: I found this book rather dull for a horror book. I don’t really know why… There was everything on my horror checklist:
Horror Checklist
· Lots of gore
· Action
· Unpredictable deaths
· Unpredictable appearances of attacker(s)
· Vivid description
· Insight of people feeling panic
· Insight of attacker(s)
LIST NOT IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE
And lots of other people loved it… Oh well! I think that it mainly is because that “The Enemy” is not a zombie apocalypse story. Zombies are supposed to be undead, raised by someone with magic and then tied to that person to do their bidding. I do however think that the disease type zombies are acceptable in most zombie stories as many of them are set in the 21st century where magic no longer exists. But in “The Enemy” the “zombies” haven’t actually died which is sort of is a bit… *Tries to think of suitable word for it that isn’t classed under profanity*… *Fails and sighs*… The narrative style of this book was probably the best to describe a “zombie” apocalypse. The multiple narrators are useful, especially when they may die. I loved the fact that we could get the view point of one of the “zombies”, as it gave you a better understanding of what the Holloway crew were up against – people with limited thinking skills suffering from schizophrenia. The best part about this book is that lots of people die. It doesn't usually happen in YA horror; the characters miraculously pull through, now armed with a new magical power.
Rating: 2 Green tea in hot water
*TRANSLATION: not quite right*

Book Hop 5

Book Blogger HopHosted by Crazy for Books , the Book Hop is a fun event where we go round to other blogs. 

Welcome to Death, Books and Tea!
Here we review young adult books, mainly horror, paranormal romance, fantasy etc. We also like manga a lot, and we frequently get high on tea.  Enjoy looking round!

This week's question is...
"If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"
The answer is yes, I do, especially if its a series. If its a stand-alone novel, I'll look around for other books, but I won't be that bothered if I can't find it.

So, hope you like this blog. Please stay for tea and cake!
Leave a link and I will, at some point in the (very possibly distant) future, come look at yours!
Nina xxx

Thursday 21 April 2011

Book Review- Trinity Blood vol. 1 by Sunao Yoshida, Kiyo Kyujo and Thores Shibamoto


Title: Trinity Blood vol.1
 Author: Sunao Yoshida, Kiyo Kyujo and Thores Shibamoto
Series: Trinity Blood manga #1
 Published: November 2006 by Tokyopop
 Length: 192 pages
Warnings: gore, vampires, violence, guns, a bit more gore
 Other info: Read as part of Parajunkee’s Vampire Challenge. Reads R-L. Spawned anime and light novels. Currently x volumes in the series.
Summary :
 Review: Its set in a post apocalyptic world, with a war between vampires and humans. We meet Esther, a nun in a very catholic setting who doesn’t seem to do much. We meet Abel Nightroad, a priest from the Vatican who’s job it is to fight the vampires. They agree to fight the vampires together. Good.
The first chapter is character intros and a big action scene. This comes from one of Gyula(a high standing vampire) sending one of his vampires to dispose of Abel Nightroad. There’s a big, gory fight scene, in which we discover that Abel is a Crusnik- a kind of vampire that requires the blood of other vampires to survive.
The rest of the volume is part action, part flashback, part talk with nothing happening and part confusing. Another character we meet is Machine, who I don’t see the point of being there. There is also Dietrich, who doesn’t do much until halfway, then becomes a major part in events. The characters could be interesting, some of which have interesting habits (such as Abel’s requirement of thirteen sugars in tea), but the action and confusing plot didn’t really let us get very close to them.
About the plot, everything that happened seems to be quite random, until the very end of a particular chapter, where it all makes perfect sense, but you don’t know why you are still reading it.
The character designs are beautiful, as is the rest of the artwork. I think the style really suits this manga, but the action scenes should be broken into a few more panels- at times, it can be hard to know where to look first. Also, the chibis that come in from time to time sort of ruin it for me, as they don’t fit the dark, gothic manga that clearly wasn’t made with incorporating comedy relief.
I would recommend this to anyone who really likes manga vampires, a lot of action, gore, and slightly pointless plotlines. If you’re new to manga, you may not want to though-the confusing bits may put you off.
Overall: I give this strength two tea because it was a bit confusing and nothing happens that makes me want to read on. Good idea behind it though and the artwork is beautiful.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

 Waiting on Wednesday is  a weekly bookish meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we show off books that we want to read but have not been published yet.

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Release Date: August 30th 2011
Goodreads: Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

Why I want it: Theres not that many good ya good ghost stories out there, but judging by the blurb and reviews, this is one of them. And it has an interesting trailer. http://youtu.be/zT4nDABj5XM
Website: Kendare Blake

What are other people waiting on this week?

Monday 18 April 2011

Book Review-Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey


Title: Jekel Loves Hyde
 Author: Beth Fantaskey
Series: N/A
Published: May 3rd 2010 by Harcourt Children's Books  
 Length: 282 pages
Warnings: attempted suicide, kissing, profanity, violence
Other info: Beth Fantaskey has also written the Jessica series, the first of which I reviewed here. You can find Fantaskey's website here.
Summary from Goodreads: Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents rules; especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.
To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything, even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being . . . bad
 Review: The idea was brilliant. The promise of young adult classic remixed with a romantic twist was too much for me to not be hyped up about. I ended up being slightly disappointed. The idea is that Dr Jekyll was a real person who really created a split personality, Hyde, with a separate body, documenting all his notes as he went along. Both Jekyll and Hyde went on to have families, of which the present generation is Jill and Tristen. Tristen and Jill then go on to recreate the experiments carried out by Jekyll. And in case you haven’t guessed, this goes extremely well-not.  it’s a shame Fantaskey didn’t pull this off as well as she could have done. the character introductions were standard fare romance lovey dovey ones, without a real original twist. the characters themselves were slightly flat; Jill and Tristen are perfect stereotypical romance stars: the good virginal female and the tortured dark brooding male . In fact, all the characters were sort of boring and too typecast for my liking. The whole plotline is generally boring, but the scenes in the school laboratory were very interesting. Fantaskey either did her research, or is very good at inventing likely reactions for various chemicals. there is a lot of description in this, which, depending on where you are in the book, is both  a good and bad thing. the whole book is quite slow, only really picking up the pace at the end, by which time you may have given up.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea- generally awful apart from the concept.