Fantasy Archives - Night Owl Reads

Lightning Kissed (Lucent #1) by Lila Felix

I’m glad I signed up for this tour because I loved the story of Colby and Theo and the idea of traveling in a blink of an eye. It’s a lovely story. I’ve included information about the book after the jump. There’s also a giveaway at the end of this post. I have not read a paranormal book in a long time and it’s refreshing to be sucked into a fictional world like this one, ESPECIALLY since it’s a clean book. It doesn’t have sex in the story. Lightning Kissed has a “Jumper” feel to it. Lucents can travel to any place as long as they have an exact idea where to go. Like in the movie, pictures help visualize where they will end up. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a power like that? You can go anywhere you want without having to take a plane or wait hours to get there. I for one would enjoy seeing and spending time in a different place every day. It’s like the ultimate backpacker/traveler’s dream! The Lucent gene is passed on to the female offspring only. In very rare occasions, a male offspring will inherit the gene. Theo did. I guess this is where things get complicated? There are all these rules, as always, but our heroine does not respond well to authority. I bet you already have an idea where this is going. In a way, Colby does not exactly know what to do with Theo and his new found gifts. The story was written well. It’s written in alternating views of Colby and Theo. It is imaginative and entertaining. Even though it ended the way it did, it gives my imagination more room for speculations about what’s going to happen next. I would recommend this because it’s an enjoyable read with lovable characters. About the Author Lila Felix is full of antics and stories. She refused to go to Kindergarten after the teacher made her take a nap on the first day of school. She staged her first protest in middle school. She almost flunked out of her first semester at Pepperdine University because she was enthralled with their library and frequently was locked in. Now her husband and three children have to put up with her rebel nature in Louisiana where her days are filled with cypress trees, crawfish, and of course her books and writing. She writes about the ordinary people who fall extraordinarily in wild, true love. Author links:http://www.lilafelix.com/https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLilaFelix/https://twitter.com/AuthorLilaFelixhttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519682.Lila_Felix

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin

In continuation of my reading + reviewing spree, I will now talk about The Evolution of Mara Dyer, book 2 in the Mara Dyer series by the lovely Michelle Hodkin. Disclaimer: Using links from this post to buy a copy of the book will earn me a small commission that will help with maintaining this blog. Well, the first book had a cliffhanger that left me confused. There were a lot of unresolved issues. Is Jude alive or is it all in her head? Did she really cause the collapse of the asylum? How did she get powers? Why is Noah Shaw so annoyingly lovable? Hehehe. Normally, I drop books that I don’t enjoy reading but I could not just let this one slide. The first book was so and so, and I was so curious as to what the hell is really going on. Plus, I wanted to read more about Noah, the perfect boyfriend. In the end, curiosity, the need to finish a series, and Noah Shaw’s hawtness trump my somewhat disappointment of this story. See, I have no idea what makes this cover attractive. It just is. There’s something poetic in the way the couple is reaching for each other like that. I’m not exactly good with words but I hope you get what I mean. I may get this book for vanity. Maybe someday I would feel differently about it when if I re-read it. Mara Dyer is selfish. But I guess we all are when we’re in love. The more she tries to be normal, the crazier she seems to be. With all the things that happened to her, everything she’s seen and heard, the more she got paranoid. She has also become very clingy, clingy as a cling wrap. Overprotective boyfriend Noah Shaw stays by her side most of the time and even spends a lot of time with her family and has sleepovers and such. He’s still perfect, and still too much everything. With all his family’s riches, he can do whatever he wants, and what he does is do everything for Mara. For her sanity. Lots of lovey dovey, cheesy lines, and conspiracy ensue as they try to figure out the truth. After confirming her suspicions, Mara does something crazy (to keep her family out of harm’s way) that sends her to a mental facility. Noah does something crazy to get sent there as well. They investigate, find out some things, gets into trouble, and things go downhill from there. Like really bad. Other characters worth noting, Daniel Dyer is still the sweetest brother ever. ’nuff said. “I wish she knew that I think she’s the most hilarious person on Earth. And that whenever she’s not home, I feel like I’m missing my partner in crime.” Jamie Roth is the comic relief. Just when things are too serious, he’s there to make a funny/sarcastic remark. I’d like to think he keeps mara sane inside the mental institution. There are other unimportant characters I’d rather not talk about. Read more

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin

Based on the description, what caught my interest is the mystery behind the death of Mara’s friends and how she is involved in it. I had the feeling that she was responsible and I was dying to find out if she did kill them and how. My name is not Mara Dyer. But my lawyer told me to choose something. I wanted a copy of this book for vanity purposes. It looked like a great addition to my ever growing book collection. There is something beautiful in the way the couple in the cover are holding each other underwater. Though it doesn’t portray anything that has to do with the story. Mara seems like a regular teenage girl, but after surviving the accident that killed her friends, she started to lose it. She was seeing ghosts and hallucinating things, which wasn’t healthy or normal. She knew how to handle herself and put up a front of normalcy to avoid being sent to a mental institution. I’m not sure how I feel about her though. I can’t connect with her but as she grew paranoid, the more I wanted to find out what happened to her and her friends that fateful night. Noah Shaw was described in a way where you’re supposed to hate him but you’ll end up loving him anyway. I guess we all love bad boys, right? He has a reputation of being a womanizer, somewhat a jerk, but how he interacted with Mara made me think it was all a front. He had a reputation to uphold after all. After a while, he did things that were too sweet and swoon-worthy. I guess the bad things about him were there to balance out how perfect he really is. Noah Shaw is probably the kind of book boyfriend we all want to have.Daniel Dyer. The older brother who I can’t help but love as well. He’s smart, caring, and always has Mara’s back. He’s literally too good to be true. Then again, this is fiction. Jamie Roth is the kind of guy best friend I want. At first I thought he was a legit guy, evetually he seemed gay, but it was mentioned (might be in the second book) that he is in fact, bi-sexual. He seems too gay to be bi. He’s the funny person in the story. His banter with Mara is just perf. I’m not elaborating on the other characters since I don’t want to spoil it for anybody who hasn’t read the book yet. Michelle writes beautifully. I was not bored, my eyes did not skip the words, and I could picture the story in my mind. I could have finished the book in one sitting. That’s how good it was to read her words. UPDATE: I kind of regret not going to the book signing because I saw the pictures and heard the stories and Michelle Hodkins is a beautiful person inside and out. I guess it wasn’t meant to be because I was broke Read more

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #1) by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is the first book in the series. It is a mysterious paranormal fantasy, with a hint of time travel, for young adults. It was published on June 7th 2011 by Quirk and I won a hardbound copy from one of Sporadic Reads‘ giveaways. I read this from April 19 to 30, 2014, hoping I would finish it in time for the book signing. Spoiler: I didn’t. This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk. The first time my eyes laid upon the cover of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I immediately concluded that it was not a story I would like. The cover looked scary and the pictures in the book were creepy looking. I did, however, find it interesting because of how popular it became. It was in the top 10 list of local bookstores and I’ve seen it in book blogs. I received a copy of the book back in December after winning Dre’s giveaway. I honestly did not expect to win, but I did, and when asked what book I wanted, I told her she could give me any book she highly recommended. Knowing her taste and how similar our interests are, I was confident that she would make a great choice. She had it sent to a branch near me so I could pick it up anytime. I didn’t even ask what title she chose nor did she tell me what it was. Now that I finished reading it, I can say that it is one of the best surprises I received. After giving it some thought, I gave this book a Goodreads rating of 5. Initially I wanted to give it a 4, but I think it is amazing how Riggs used random photos and created a story out of it. I have tons of photos in our photo albums but I don’t think I could ever come up with something like what he did. The pictures are so creepy looking and accompanied with the story Riggs came up with, it felt so real. After reading some Goodreads review, a lot of people say that it’s a rip off of X-men. Although it may be the case, I don’t hold it against Riggs. There’s still something new and different to this world. As for the characters, Jacob is just a normal boy who loved his grandfather so much. He grew up listening to stories about the war and monsters his grandfather fought, and the children he grew up with. Jacob believed they were real because of the proof, the pictures of peculiar children his grandpa showed him. But as he grew older, the more it seemed like his grandpa was losing his mind. Maybe from PTSD or age. Everything changed when his grandpa was attacked and he saw who did it. The peculiar children are just that, peculiar. They have special abilities, like X-men, and they live in a loop. The loop is like Supernatural’s every day is Tuesday. The day repeats on the same date every Read more

The Star Dwellers (The Dwellers #2) by David Estes

The Star Dwellers by David Estes, a post-apocalyptic young adult novel with a bit of romance, is the second book in the Dwellers Saga. Self-published by the author on the 30th of September 2012, I bought an epub copy from Smashwords and read it from October 31st, 2012 to April 26, 2013. I loved The Moon Dwellers and I also liked this sequel. Although it took me a very long time to finish because I read it when I was just starting with my job and I had a pretty hectic schedule. The Star Dwellers picks up right where The Moon Dwellers left off. Adele and Tristan had to go their separate ways just when they finally got together. They each have their own task, a role to play, in order to save everyone in their world. It’s not easy and I think it’s great that they could still focus on more important things other than their love. It’s a rare thing in books these days. Like any other book, secrets are eventually revealed for progress in the story. In this case, it almost scarred a very important relationship in the story. But because they have a solid relationship, it only made their bond stronger. There are new characters introduced. Although I liked some, some were so and so, and it’s just hard to “trust” anybody in that kind of situation Adele and Tristan are in. I learned to love Tawni more. She is a true friend, to think she and Adele didn’t really know each other that much. They became friends after only a few days and yet Tawni’s loyalty to Adele was remarkable. Most YA novels may have a parent present in the story, but few are those with an important role in the story. David’s stories are one of the few. The parents are so involved in what’s happening in the world or life of the main character that it feels more real. Adele’s mother was introduced as one of the generals in the Star Realm, while her father is a leader of the revolution. I love how they’re part of the story and not just there for the sake of having parents around. They’re involved with what’s going on and not just dead. One of my favorite parts was when Adele’s parents saw each other on a video call, or whatever it’s called, it was a sweet scene. If you love dystopian/post-apocalyptic themed novels, and if you loved The Hunger Games, you should really pick up a copy of the Dwellers Saga. You won’t regret it. Highly recommended for people with hyperactive imaginations. 😉

Prophecy of the Most Beautiful (Oracle of Delphi #1) by Diantha Jones

The Prophecy of the Most Beautiful by Diantha Jones, the first book in The Oracle of Delphi Series, is an adventure-filled, Greek Mythology inspired young adult novel with a hint of romance. Self-published on March 1st, 2012, I received a copy of the ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was also part of the book tour in 2012. Thank you Diantha for the free copy. I read it from November 21 to December 09, 2012. Let’s start with the cover. It’s one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen, and it’s super duper appropriate to the title. Although the cover girl is not the “most beautiful” mentioned in the title. This is the first Greek Mythology themed novel I’ve read, (Moonlight and Oranges does not count because it was inspired by a Greek Myth story), and I LOVED IT! Like what I mentioned in my Goodreads review, I’m not very familiar with Greek Myth as I didn’t have it during high school, and after reading this I want to know more about it. I loved the characters as well, especially Strafford. Ace is cool too, he’s the guy for me even if I fell in love with Strafford’s hunky features. Chloe was kind of annoying at times, but I guess everyone is, at one point of another. The mystery of who the most beautiful is was something I didn’t expect. Then again, I wasn’t familiar with the gods and goddesses. I like how it is full of adventure and even the fight scenes are clearly described. I want to learn more about their world, fortunately, I have a copy of the sequel too, which I will read some time soon.

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.

Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar #1) by Willow Rose

Savage is the first book in the Daughters of the Jaguar series by Willow Rose. The first time I laid my eyes on the cover, I just knew I had to read it. Savage was an interesting read. It explained a lot of things about the story and the background was laid out one after the other. We are reading the story in Christian’s first-person point-of-view as it revolves around him and his experience when he moved from Denmark to Florida for his medical studies in the 80s. He was taken in by a wealthy family who welcomed him to their home with open arms…widely open arms to the point that the head of the family, the doctor, bought him a new car, a windsurf board, and eventually paid offered to pay for the rest of his college tuition. Christian’s future in Florida seemed to be heading in a promising direction until that incident that changed his life forever. Sulking in his thoughts and wallowing in self-pity, he wanted explanations with how he survived, if there is any rational explanation for what happened. He eventually became obsessed with life after death and jaguars, reading every book he could get his hands on regarding those subjects. He was aware of the change within himself, I guess near-death experiences really changes ones perspective. To top it off, he acquired supernatural abilities that made him think he was going crazy. Like him, I was intrigued with the strange family next door. Although I had an idea who and what they were, I couldn’t wait to get to the part where that was revealed. He meets a lovely woman named Aiyana, who divulged things about her family like it was the most normal thing to do. She felt like she knew him personally even though they just met. I thought it was weird even after it was explained.The writing was pretty good, you could tell it was researched well, although I think it was laid out too much. Like Christian, I wanted more of Aiyana. She is just so mysterious and I wish we could see her point-of-view as well. The sexual situations were mostly mild. A little bit of description but not much heat in it. Still would not recommend it to teens under 16. I wish there was more about the strange family of women, and I also found the ending quite sad because they chose a more “sensible” path. Maybe we would find out why in the next book, I am intrigued with how that would pan out. I haven’t read much shape-shifter stories to compare this one with, but I enjoyed reading and am looking forward to the rest of the series. AUTHOR BIO Willow Rose writes Paranormal Romance, fantasy and mystery. Originally from Denmark she now lives on Florida’s Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. She is a huge fan of Anne Rice and Isabel Allende. When she is not writing or reading she enjoys to watch the Read more

Seaweed by Elle Strauss

If you’re looking for a cute-sy mermaid story, you may just like Elle Strauss’ Seaweed. It left me smiling and daydreaming about being a mermaid. Since I was still not over merfolk novels, I read the Kindle copy of Seaweed that I picked up back when it was still free. It was recommended by Karen Hooper, the author responsible for my new found love for merfolk. If you’re not a fan on insta-love, this book isn’t for you. Tor and Dori were attracted to each other even before they spoke with each other. This was quite an entertaining read, I would find myself smiling from time to time because of the parts that I find funny. Like the opening part, when Tor and Dori first hung out and the latter playfully threw water on Tor’s face and he ran away, I couldn’t help but laugh because it was funny in my head. Then there was the date on the boat, there was a part that was so funny too. Another thing I liked is that Dori is a swimmer. I used to train competitively during high school and reading about Dori’s swim meets brings back memories from my own swimming days. The plot was okay, there were parts that felt off but it still worked in the end. The science behind the fins-to-legs transformation was realistic, in my opinion. Of course it would hurt to have your fins separate into a pair of legs, amiright? Seaweed is listed as a stand-alone but the ending felt like a cliffhanger, there were still questions left unanswered, and though the whole story was just okay, I still want to know what happens after that ending.

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.

Genre: Fantasy