Genre: Urban Fantasy

Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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 by Willow Smith

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

Evermore by Alyson Noel

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 by Christine Fonseca

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.

The Awakening by L.J. Smith

The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries #1) by L.J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries caught my interest even before the TV show came out. I’ve been seeing it in bookstores and always told myself that i will buy and read it one day. That didn’t happen until someone gave me a gift card, from my favorite bookstore, for my birthday and i decided to buy volumes 1 and 2. I’ve been trying to read volume 1, which has The Awakening and The Struggle, but i’d get so distracted that i can’t get past chapter 2. After my third try, i reached chapter 15 but it took me some months to get there. Then a couple of weeks ago, i found e-books and downloaded them to my phone so i could still read before i sleep (with the lights off) and while i’m in commute or just waiting somewhere. The other day i finally finished reading The Awakening and started reading the first 2 chapters of The Struggle. Like any other TV show or movie based on a novel, i can’t help but compare/point out the difference between the book and the show/movie. For starters, book-Elena, IMO, doesn’t seem like the same Elena in the show. And unlike the show, she doesn’t have a hot teenage brother named Jeremy but instead has a little kid sister named Margaret. I know these were already mentioned even before the show started so it was no surprise, really. The fight between Damon and Stefan seems more serious in the books than what was shown in the series. In the show, they seem to be getting along, getting closer to each other, or at least they were close before Katherine came to their lives; but in the book, i get the impression that they have been fighting even before Katherine came, she just made it worse. The Awakening is mostly about Stefan and Elena meeting, falling in love, the latter finding out what the former really is, and of course, Damon trying to keep them apart. In the end of this book, it appears that Damon killed Stefan and boasts about it, but we all know that isn’t true. I’m in the part of The Struggle that Elena does not believe him and she is looking for Stefan with the help of the witch Bonnie, whose last name isn’t Bennett, but McCollough.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark is the first of the  Sookie Stackhouse Novels, also known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries. I first heard of it when i started watching True Blood, an HBO series, a few years back. I have been interested but i never actually had the chance to purchase and read the books. A couple of weeks ago, i found e-books of the set and started reading from my phone every night before i slept. Last night, i finally finished it and it was around 80-90% similar as to what we’ve seen on the hit TV series. I guess they didn’t want to go way off the original story but still made minor changes to make it more attractive on TV. For instance, Sookie had no best friend named Tara, but her gay cousin Lafayette is in the story from the beginning. A minor character in the books, he dies in the beginning of the 2nd book (I started reading it after i finished this one). And then there’s a dim-witted vampire who Bill asked to look out after Sookie while he had to go do some business to get Eric off their backs. The vampire was called Bubba and was described as someone whom they all recognized, once a famous rock star who supposedly died years ago. From the description and the back story, i think it’s Elvis. There’s also the fact that Sookie and Vampire Bill had sex a lot. There were a couple of times where i didn’t get it at first but words were used that made me go back and read that part again. Nicely done Mrs. Harris.