Review: Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Vessel
Author:Sarah Beth Durst
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
ISBN:   1442423765
ISBN13: 9781442423763
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Author
 

In a desert world of sandstorms and sand-wolves, a teen girl must defy the gods to save her tribe in this mystical, atmospheric tale from the author of Drink, Slay, Love.Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

     Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale.

     The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate—or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.

I want to start out by saying that the writing for Vessel is extremely well done, the setting is fantastic, and the world building is phenomenal. The whole book is full of mythology. There was a great amount of evolution not only for the gods but the rest of the characters involved in the journey to save them. The story was extremely unique and full of imaginative situations. The main character Liyana and the rest of the vessels had a tough journey and the story was believable and beautiful. Unfortunately I just could not get into the book. How is it possible that I can say all that good and still not enjoy it? I honestly just couldn't connect with it. I can't really tell if something was just missing for me or if I was just hoping for a different kind of story. I didn't always get why some of the characters felt the way they did or how they decided certain things were ok. I think my beliefs on what was acceptable and theirs were just way out of whack to completely connect to the book as a whole. Alright, I will stop confusing you now. I have seen some great reviews out there for VESSEL so don't let my weird opinion sway you from at least picking it up and reading a few chapters to see if you like it.

Because of the fact that I couldn't really connect fully I didn't think it fair to leave a star rating on the book

Review: Dark Currents by Jaqueline Carey

Dark Currents
Author:Jaqueline Carey
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Roc
Agent of Hel Book #1
ISBN:  0451464788
ISBN13: 9780451464781
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

The Midwestern resort town of Pemkowet boasts a diverse population: eccentric locals, wealthy summer people, and tourists by the busload; not to mention fairies, sprites, vampires, naiads, ogres and a whole host of eldritch folk, presided over by Hel, a reclusive Norse goddess.

To Daisy Johanssen, fathered by an incubus and raised by a single mother, it’s home. And as Hel’s enforcer and the designated liaison to the Pemkowet Police Department, it’s up to her to ensure relations between the mundane and eldritch communities run smoothly.

But when a young man from a nearby college drowns—and signs point to eldritch involvement—the town’s booming paranormal tourism trade is at stake. Teamed up with her childhood crush, Officer Cody Fairfax, a sexy werewolf on the down-low, Daisy must solve the crime—and keep a tight rein on the darker side of her nature. For if she’s ever tempted to invoke her demonic birthright, it could accidentally unleash nothing less than Armageddon.

The Goddess of Hel picked Daisy Johanssen to be her Agent. Its Daisy's job to keep the peace and met out punishment when the peace is broken between the mundane and Eldritch community. The Peace is broken when a human college student is found dead and the evidence suggests he was murdered by someone in the Eldritch community.

DARK CURRENTS was a pretty fun book. The town of Penkowet is home to many including a thriving Eldritch community. You are introduced to many different species and fun characters throughout the book. Daisy is half incubus, half human and doesn't always get a lot of respect because of that. She works part time with the Penkowet police department but when a college student ends up dead she joins the investigation along side her crush Cody Fairfax to solve the crime. Daisy is in a constant battle to not give in to her demons side. She is down to earth and a pretty good girl. There isn't any sort of romance in DARK CURRENTS but there are a few small hints to there being one in the future. I found the whole mystery pretty thorough, It was suspenseful and fun to follow along with. You never quite knew who was on what side until it was thrown at you. The pace was nice and the story flowed evenly. I enjoyed the world and will be jumping back in for book 2.
I gave it 4/5 stars 

New Releases: 10/21-10/27

Tues Nov 23

Beautiful Redemption (Castor Chronicles, #4) by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
Dark Star by Bethany Frenette
Destiny Rising (The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters,#3) by L.J. Smith
The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer,#2) by Michelle Hodkin
Finale (Hush, Hush, #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick
Flutter by Gina Linko
The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #1) by Julie Kagawa

Happy Reading!!

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Mark of the Witch by Jessica Gibson

UFI welcomes Jessica Gibson Author of Mark of the Witch. Thanks for Joining us!!

Should the good guy always win?

First, thank you so much for having me on your blog today Stacy!! This is a question that I have asked myself a lot lately. Should the good guy always win? I know that most of the time it’s expected. People want to see a happy ever after. But, does it alway have to be the good guy who gets it?

I think the bad guy has gotten the short end of the stick for a while. They more often than not are interesting and have better back stories than your typical protagonist.  I’ve gotten so sick of reading the same story over and over again. Boy meets girl, bad guy enters and threatens them, fight ensues, good guys win and bad guy slinks off to lick his wounds. Where’s the fun in that?  I’ve made it my goal to have at least one of my bad guys win. Not sure when it’s going to happen, well, I do. But, I’m not going to tell you yet. 

I think the bad guy should get a happy ever after. Don’t they need love too? Don’t they want to ride off into the sunset? Books would be a lot more interesting if we were never sure who was going to win. Besides, some of the bad guys are just so good. We have characters like Damon from The Vampire Diaries or Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse books who have made the bad guy more loveable. They are delightfully wicked, with just a touch of goodness in them. The intensity and the range of emotion you can get from a bad guy has always been a draw for me. The inner struggle, that bit of them that craves the darkness. It makes reading that much more fun for me.

What do you guys think? Do you prefer a white knight, or a dark prince?

Thanks again for having me on the blog Stacy!!

 

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Jessica lives in California with her husband and young son. She loves to read, and that love helped her to branch out into writing. Aside from writing, she runs an online event planning business called the Release Day Diva. In addition to novels, Jessica writes and maintains the blog Book on the Bright Side. Keep up with Jessica and her latest releases and events on her blog.

Find Jessica and her books

Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

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Mark of the Witch
Boston Witches#1

Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Paperback

Magic flows through Jillian Proctor's veins as surely as blood, but so far her life outside Boston has been peaceful. William Morgan blows into Jilly's life like a hurricane, unleashing her magic and sending her out of control. Unknowingly, William brings an enemy who only wants to posses the power of the witch. Jilly must learn to harness her magic before she loses it - and everything in her life is destroyed.

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 Tour Wide

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Week in Review: 10/14-10/20

Books Ive Bought/received

* Guardians of Stone by Anita Clenney- Arc- Publisher

* Tab Bennett and the Underneath by Jes Young- eARC- Author

* Blood and Mistletoe by E.J. Stevens - eARC- Author

* Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep- ARC- Publisher

* Under the Gun by Hannah Jayne- ARC- Publisher

Books I Read

Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway
Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel
Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance
Running in the Dark by Regan Summers
Beyond the Cell by Sara Tribble

Reviews Posted

This Case is Gonna Kill Me by Phillipa Bornikova
Death's Rival by Faith Hunter
Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday Sara Tribble was on UFI with a Guest Blog and Giveaway for her blog tour for Beyond the Cell.

* Tuesday/Wednesday a Giveaway for This Case is Gonna Kill Me by Phillipa Bornikova started.

* A Guest Blog and Giveaway for A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang was posted on Thursday.

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Winner: Edge of Oblivion by J.T. Geissinger

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize: signed copy of Edge of Oblivion

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.

Review: Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter

Whispers at Moonrise
Author:C.C. Hunter
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: St Martins Griffin
Shadow Falls Book #4
ISBN:   1250011914
ISBN13: 9781250011916
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher/Netgalley

Shadow Falls Camp is back in session with the most explosive installment yet.  A shocking new threat will rock Shadow Falls—changing it forever and altering Kylie’s journey in ways she never imagined.

Even at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only can she see ghosts, but she doesn’t seem to belong to any one species—she exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for what she is, and what she isn’t…a werewolf.  With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more and more to Derek, the only person in her life who’s willing to accept the impossible.

As if life isn’t hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday, her closest confidante.  Trouble is, Holiday isn’t dead…not yet anyway.  Now Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it’s too late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas from slipping away forever.   In a world of constant confusion, there’s only one thing Kylie knows for sure.  Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.

Holy crud!! I thought the action and suspense was high in the last 2 books of the series WHISPERS AT MOONRISE is equal if not more filled with everything we love from the Shadow Falls series.

Some of my thoughts on the different things in WHISPERS AT MOONRISE. Lucas is a douche. Seriously how selfish and stupid can you be? I have always liked Derek, and he continues to be likable. The Moms new boyfriend really creeps me out and I'm willing to bet he is not on the up and up. Holiday and Burnett yay you guys really should have worked through all that books ago. Della and Miranda continue to be highly entertaining. The FRU continues to weezle their way in to Kylie's life in slimy ways. Loved the Grandfather and Aunt, we are FINALLY getting answers to what Kylie is. The ending? I need to know what happens next right now!! Wow must you punish us faithful readers with an ending like that?!?!

WHISPERS AT MOONRISE brings us lots of answers, plenty of drama and great development throughout the entire book. The only bad thing? The final book in the series CHOSEN AT NIGHTFALL wont be out until April 2013.

I gave it 5/5 stars