Short Story Archives - Night Owl Reads

Only A Kiss by Ines Bautista-Yao

Only A Kiss is written by Ines Bautista-Yao, a Filipina, and I am so happy to be part of this book tour.I featured this the other day and posted an excerpt which you can find by clicking here.Aside from my review, there is also a giveaway at the end of this post. Initial ThoughtsI have always wanted to find and promote quality YA themed books by Filipino authors, I know there a lot now and the industry is booming with success. I signed up for this not only to promote Filipino authors but because I think this is something right up my preferred reading material. The CoverLook at how pretty that cover is. I love it! The colors blend well and the artwork is beautiful. I was told it was designed by Ebony Paguia, @handslovepapers at Instagram. The PlotIf I described the plot, I would end up spoiling the story. The CharactersKatie is bossy, but she loves her best friend Chris to bits. She had plans for her future with Chris’ older brother since they were 9. It was cute. Chris is a nice guy turned heartbreaking hottie. He’s sweet and always has Katie’s back.

Daimon (Covenant #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Daimon is a short story prequel in the Covenant series. I’ve only heard of it, YA readers rave about this series but I have yet to read it. This novella made me want to know more about it. Almost everyone I know is raving about the Covenant series. So I read this prequel out of curiosity. I don’t normally read prequels until I’ve read the first book because I’ve learned that it only means something if I knew what it was about. Daimon gives a brief background about Alexandria, and how she and her mom left the only place she calls home. Why they left, it wasn’t mentioned because Alex herself doesn’t know. What she does know, what her mom told her, is that they can never go back.This prequel caught my interest and I am seriously intrigued about the rest of the story.

Born of Fire (Channeler #0.5) by Heather McCorkle

I read Born of Fire out of curiosity. It’s the prequel to The Secret of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel. It’s the first time I have heard of this series, it’s about druids or channelers, and I’ve only heard of druids from TV shows. I have no idea who Aidan is but this is the story of how he was born. I have no idea what significance it holds because I haven’t read The Secret of Spruce Knoll. It’s also the first time I read a prequel before reading the first book in the series. I gave it a 3 because I liked it, I am definitely intrigued and will most likely read this series when I get the chance. The cover is interesting, I wonder if it means something in the series. The writing was good too, it was easy to imagine that I was part of the story, experiencing what the characters are experiencing. I really hope to get a copy of this novel and find time to read it. I’m not purchasing online at the moment because I still have a pile to read.

Mea Culpa (Requiem #1.5) by Christine Fonseca

When reading Lacrimosa, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Zane. He was Nesy’s friend and although she get annoyed by his concern, she knows he means well. But is there more it than just being friends? Mea Culpa depicts the events that happened after Nesayel was dying in Celestium and after Aydan was sent back to Earth to live his life as a mortal. It tells the story of what Zane did in hopes to save his best friends’ life. It’s a nice short story to get to know Zane a little better. And it gives a glimpse of what to expect in Libera Me, book 2 in the Requiem Series.

Dies Irae (Requiem #0.5) by Christine Fonseca

I wasn’t as engrossed with this as I was with Lacrimosa but it was still a good read. Although Azza already told Nesy this story, it’s still good to know what really happened and how it happened. I feel really bad for Mikayel for losing the love of his life just to fulfill his destiny. Did they really not have a different choice? Or was Azza very manipulative to send Demi to her death? His intentions were good but it was still evil. Such a sad fate for everyone involved.

Portrait of a Starter: An Unhidden Story by Lissa Price

Portrait of a Starter: An Unhidden Story (Starters #0.5) by Lissa Price

I’ve been intrigued with Starters ever since I saw the book in the bookstore. Then I found out it has a short story, so I read this first.It was intriguing. The point of view was on Michael as he describes a day in his life with Callie and her little brother. It had nothing much but a brief and vague description of what to expect when you read Starters. I gave it a 2 because that’s all it is, a short story.

Free Four: Tobias Tells the Divergent Knife-Throwing Scene

Free Four: Tobias Tells The Story (Divergent #1.5) by Veronica Roth

I was so excited when I found out that there’s a short story on Divergent with Four’s perspective. I thought it was going to be hard to find an ebook of it but I was wrong. I found it as soon as I searched. This short story is Four’s point of view in one of the scenes that happened in Divergent. I read the reviews of other fans and they were happy with which scene Roth chose to write Four’s story on. There were a lot of scenes I would have loved to get inside his head with, but the knife scene was a great choice. It’s where he admitted to himself that he likes Tris and wanted to protect her, and it’s what stopped him from walking out on Dauntless and become factionless. I really liked hearing his reasons, his motivation for doing that to Tris. He told her that in Divergent when she got mad at him for taunting her, but it wasn’t clear to me back then. After reading this, it became clear that what he did was out of love. The downside is that this story was too short. I would love to read more about Four’s thoughts, his choices, his feelings for Tris. I’m still intrigued why he likes Tris so much, I could just assume it was love at first sight but still, I want to know.

Hana (Delirium #1.5) by Lauren Oliver

Hana is a short story from Lauren Oliver’s Delirium Trilogy. The novella is written in the POV of Lena’s best friend Hana, where we see the story of the last summer before her procedure. We find out what her deal was and what she was going through with all that was happening in her life. In Delirium, I was intrigued with Hana because of how Lena described her. There was a clear change in her personality, but I think because of the circumstances, she wasn’t sure if she could trust Lena with her new found secret. But eventually she did and I could assume that a part of her, like Lena, was wondering if she did the right choice of trusting the other with her secrets. It was her last summer before her procedure before she gets cured, it’s her last chance at freedom and she wanted to make use of it as best as she could. I liked this short story because it gave us fans an access to Hana, the best friend. I feel bad for her because all she wanted was to be loved and cared for, and it seems that she found it with the wrong person. At some point, I think she was jealous of Lena and Alex because what they had was real. But her actions in the end, in my opinion, was made out of her concern for Lena, rather than jealousy. This was a good addition to the story so that we would understand her position and not hate her