Supernatural Archives - Night Owl Reads

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.

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.

Blue Moon (The Immortals #2) by Alyson Noel

SPOILER ALERT! This review may have possible spoilers on it. Have you read Evermore? Check out my review here. After giving Evermore a rating of 2 out of 5, you’d think I would drop the series and get on with my life. I didn’t. I read Blue Moon right after because I was intrigued with Damen and the plot for this book. He’s getting weaker, but why and how? The book starts with Ever and Damen all lovey-dovey and happy because Dina was dead and they could spend eternity together without worrying about bad people tearing them apart. But we all know that’s not the case or there wouldn’t be 5 more books in the series, right? So anyway, Damen has been teaching Ever the Immortal’s way of life and how to control her ~~powers~~. But she figures she has an eternity to learn so she’s been stalling the lessons. I find it funny that she’s using his lust to her advantage; making him manifest a bouquet of flowers he asked her to practice on so she won’t do it herself. There’s a new guy in town and Ever doesn’t like him. She feels like there’s something different about him but Damen seems to be fine with it so she tries to be as friendly as she can be. After a few days Damen was weaker and can’t even do a simple manifestation. Ever, of course, worries and concluded that something was wrong and maybe Roman [the new guy] is behind it. But she can’t prove it so she tries to figure out what’s wrong with Damen by going to Summerland with Ava. What’s to like in this book? I don’t know, there’s no depth in it. Everyone is still shallow and useless. I did feel sad for Ever when Damen changed and ignored her. And then there was the near-end part where I wanted to slap her for being so stupid. I don’t like how the “fight” happened but I’m glad Damen’s okay. Though the way it ended gives hope for a better future? I don’t know.

Evermore (The Immortals #1) by Alyson Noel

SPOILER ALERT! This review has some spoilers on it. Read at your own risk. When I first saw this book in the bookstore some years back, I thought it was interesting and the cover was pretty. A friend told me it was light read, easy to finish, but wasn’t really worth it. I started reading this book last March, but then stopped and only continued last June. I thought was a bit funny; I’d find myself laughing in my head. It’s not bad, but not good either. I guess one of the reasons I kept reading is, like Ever, I wanted to know what was going on. Every incident feels strange and stupid and shallow. I also couldn’t help but think that this is something that would probably be better on TV. Damen has limitless power. When I say limitless I mean we don’t exactly know what he can or cannot do. He is an Immortal and the reason behind that was some sort of alchemy, an experiment of his father which he continued after he’d died. He drinks this red juice which is like his fountain of youth; it’s what keeps him ~*~immortal~*~. What I don’t understand is how he got his powers. Aside from manifestation, he can hear peoples thoughts, sees ghosts as well, and he’s like a signal jammer to Ever’s curse. There’s no explanation or basis for his skills. He also doesn’t get sick. Ever. The characters are annoying at times. Ever has isolated herself from almost everyone because of her acquired skills after the accident. I don’t know how she got her powers just by that accident. Then there’s Haven who isn’t exactly a good friend to Ever or to anyone, she’s quite selfish and mean. Miles on the other hand, seems to care more about his text mates than his friends. Damen is…okay, I guess. He’s so mysterious and secretive, and apparently hot. There was Riley, Ever’s annoying little sister, a ghost who got left behind. And then there was Drina, another Immortal who was stalking Ever. I’ll just leave it at that. The writing style was okay, good enough. As for character development, well… I think everyone was shallow. I gave it a rating of 2 because it was tolerable, I’ll read the rest of this series out of curiosity and the need to finish a series.

Lacrimosa (Requiem #1) by Christine Fonseca

SPOILER ALERT! This review has spoilers. Continue at your own risk. Where to begin? You know how something starts as intense and exciting, and after a while it gets dull and boring and you’d end up disappointed with it? Well, that’s not the case with Christine Fonseca’s Lacrimosa. I received my copy from the author herself when I read in a Goodreads group that she’s giving away digital copies in exchange for a review. I have never read any angel/fallen/goth themed novels but there are a few I’m interested in, and when I read Lacrimosa’s plot, I was intrigued with its story. Let’s start with the book cover. At first look, it didn’t really appeal to me. It’s simple, showing half the face of a girl with piercing blue eyes, gold lips, smooth skin, and blond hair. Behind her are grey feathers which comes across as angel wings, but the wings aren’t that obvious until you look closely. If I were to rate it, based on my rating system, I’d give it a 2.5. The story starts with Nesy adjusting to her human host as she gets ready to carry out her plans in sending the UnHoly to the Abyss. Her target is Aydan, disguised as a teen band vocalist, who seduces young women and eat their soul, the victims bodies then devoured by dark creatures. Aydan is the right-hand man of Azzaziel, the most powerful evil being there is. Nesy was prepared to take his life, until she looks into his eyes and memories long gone come rushing back. Memories from her other human past. I like Christine Fonseca’s writing style, her words are captivating. The moment I started reading, I was drawn to the story right away, I could feel the emotions her characters are experiencing. And after two chapters, I was already hooked. I immediately fell in love with the characters too and longed to read more about them. Fonseca also has this style, her signature maybe, where Nesy or Aydan contradicts his/her own thoughts, I don’t know how to explain it but I like how she does it. Another thing I liked is we get to see the views of both characters involved, it’s a refreshing change from the usual first-person POV that I read. I would often wish I knew what the other person is thinking and with Lacrimosa, we get to be inside both their heads.Of course, it’s not perfect. It has flaws but I looked past that and just enjoyed the rest of the story. There were times that I wanted to strangle Nesy and/or Aydan myself, wanted to bang their heads together or something. I also have questions about some parts of the book, but I’ll reserve those questions and ask Ms. Fonseca instead. The ending was heartbreaking. I didn’t see it coming, although while I was reading I kept wondering how it will end because it seemed like whatever happens, no one ends up happy. I cried so many times throughout Read more

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas is the 2nd book from The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris. The second season of HBO’s True Blood is loosely based in this book. Because the books focus on Sookie and her adventures, we don’t actually know what happened in Bon Temps while she was doing a job with Bill for the Dallas vampires. But before she left for Dallas, she encountered the maenad Callisto. Like what i mentioned in my previous post about this series, Lafayette died in the beginning of this book. That and the maenad’s presence was merely a side story which Sookie had to take care of when she got back from Dallas. The story focused on the Dallas vampires as one of their “brothers” went missing and they needed Sookie’s special ability to find out what happened to him. They had a hunch that The Fellowship of the Sun was behind it but they needed to be sure. Later we find out that the vampire Farell was captured with the help of Godric/Godfrey, who wanted to face his true death by burning under the sun. Unlike the show, Jason Stackhouse was nowhere near the Fellowship, Steve Newlin is an old man, and Godric/Godfrey is not Eric Northman’s maker. I happen to like Godric from the show, his existence and relationship with Eric made them seem more human. But Godfrey in the books was just a pedophile who raped and killed children, sucking them dry. Although it seems like he repented when he realized his sins and decided to take his life by facing the sun. Another difference between the show and the book is that Tara and Eggs have already been going out. Sookie knew Tara from high school and they were not best friends since they were kids. Eggs and the maenad didn’t die too, although a whole bunch of townsfolk DID die when the maenad took their lives as a “proper tribute” to her. Also, Sam was running/spending time in the woods with the maenad, not another shapeshifter. If you’ve seen the show, they made it look like Sam encountered the maenad before and he hates her guts and he killed her in the end.

Genre: Supernatural