Grasping at Eternity and Taking Back Forever by Karen Amanda Hooper

I am doing a double blog since these are the first and second installments to the series. I am going to warn my readers now there will be **SPOLIERS** so stop reading if you don't want to ruin the books. First up is Grasping at Eternity.

Cover:

I loved as always that yes the cover has meaning in the book. Maybe not anything all that important but still referenced in it. They say not to judge a book by its cover but I am going to be honest and say i usually choose my books first by the cover. I found this to be no exception. I love this cover. I think it was stunning and had meaning so 5 stars for cover.

Quote: “If you love someone, put their name in a circle; because hearts can be

broken, but circles never end.” 
― Karen Amanda Hooper, Grasping at Eternity

Genre/Rating: 4 stars -- Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

My Thoughts

Plot: The plot was unique. I felt at times it was confusing and a bit overwhelming but it is better explained farther into the book without sounding repetitive.  I found this book entertaining and a good read. It took me several hours but that was because I kept having to reread the parts that were hard to understand. The family is large and hard to keep track of too but will pick up easily if you don't try remembering them from their past lives. Remember them in the now. 

Characters: Maryah is a bit hmm how do you say? Annoying and oblivious. In the second book it actually becomes a joke that i will mention in the review. I liked her character but I couldn't help but feel a bit put off with her selfishness and immaturity. She does go through a horrible ordeal but I felt that it made her act like a brat and whine. She is selfish and annoying at times but got sooo much better by the end of the book. She became a strong character and a good role model. Now when I think about Nathan I hated him from the beginning. He also becomes so much better by the end but in all honesty he is an asshole at first but I think with a good reason because Maryah is annoying as hell at first. The adoptive family is probably the best part of the story. I loved how close they were and their interactions. I LOVED CARSON! He was the one who was always about to smack Maryah. Character development seemed to be the main purpose and I'm glad they both developed into better people.  I also think the villain at the end was kinda obvious but also not realistic because it wasn't set up right. 3 stars 

Writing/Syntax: They writing was was pretty much flawless. I saw no spelling errors but the diction could have been better and the paragraphs were sometimes spaced weird and maybe to long. But besides that, the rest on the book was pretty much flawless. 5 stars

Romance: The romance was slow and a bit unnerving with River. I think it took too long for the two MC's to get their heads out of the sand but was still cute and sweet.

Ending:  The ending was good and strong with no real cliffhangers but I still wanted to pick up the sequel just to see things finally come together. 

Recap of What I Didn't Like:

The characters were slow and a bit stupid at times. 

The plot was slow.

The romance was creepy with River and nonexistent with Nathan save for a few short scenes that got ruined which was quite unbelievable and annoying. 

The book was good but not great which it could have been because of the great ideas. I just wish things were executed better.

I recommend this book for 13+ with no real cursing or sexual activity that I remember. It is classified as a young adult.

Overall the book was good enough to make me curious for the next book which is where I will continue my review. Taking Back Forever, was much better. I feel as if the author was just scratching the surface with the first book and with the sequel smashed through the ice with phenomenal success. 

Cover:

I like the cover, really I do. But I felt is was lacking what the first one had with symbolism. The heart in a cage doesn't really make sense since **SPOLIER** she remembers her love for Nathan. That left me lacking. I thought maybe the cover was for Harmony who shares with Maryah as narrator. I felt a bit baffled but was happy to see more peacock feathers. 

Quote: “When you heart and soul are in it, making love is not just special, Maryah-- it's magical.” 

― Karen Amanda Hooper, Taking Back Forever

“Dear Judy Blume, why didn’t you write a book about how to survive talking to your centuries-old, super-duper experienced, smoking-hot soul mate about sex for the first time ever? That book would have been extremely helpful in preparing me for this incredibly awkward situation.” 
― Karen Amanda Hooper, Taking Back Forever

Genre/Rating: 4 stars -- Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Plot: The sequel was amazing. It made me so happy I had started the Kindrily Series. It moves with a fast pace and always keeps you interested. I loved Harmony's POV  because she brought a toughness to the story and a side we really didn't understand came into focus. I was shocked by how much different it was from the first and was pleasantly so. There was a part right in the beginning with Carson and a snow globe that just made my life and I related to. I definitely want to shake people. I liked the villain idea and how there was actually some action that wasn't just in the first 20 pages. I was pleasantly surprised with this sequel that just blew me out of the water and had some major twists. I liked how things that we assumed we pointed out and corrected like how Mary (Maryah) was killed in her previous life but had some mystery as to how and why. 5 stars

Charaters: I loved Maryah this go. I felt she developed and matured but still acted like a teenage girl. Like when her and Nathaniel talk about sex it was awkward! Its supposed to be awkward! Other books make it seem like it so easy to talk about and really downplay the importance of talking about things like that. I loved that scene. Maryah still makes some mistakes and unnecessarily blames herself but luckily she learns from them rather than whining about it like she did so frequently in book 1. Harmony the other female lead blew me away. She was kinda downplayed in book 1 and we didn't really learn much about her other than the fact that her soul mate was taken.  She was tough yet soft behind her facade of hardness. She made some selfish decisions that I felt I would have done too if put in her place. She was easily relate able and likable. I usually get pissed when POV changes in books because that wasn't who I read about in book 1 and I am happy to announce this is an exception. I liked Harmony's voice and I liked her power. Talking to dead people, can anyone say Sixth Sense? But in all seriousness her power proved to be useful and not all that far fetched like some authors do these days. The family was better explained and we get to know them better through both POV's. Nathaniel  isn't on my Swoon List but he is a very likable male lead and has a whole new side we didn't really see in book 1. Nathaniel was sweet, sexy, and very patient. I think guys can look at this dude for a reference because he really became a great strong character that gave our female lead so much more depth and confidence. 5 stars

Writing/Syntax: The writing was the same as before and all errors I had founded before were corrected.  5 stars

Romance:  This is where the fan base will get mad at me. I loved the romance and luckily I'm an 18 year old girl who has read some adult book with lets say adult content. I feel this was really close to crossing a line into adult territory. I wish she would have gone on way or another because the romance get hot. Like no clothes hot. And again that's fine for an 18 year old, but when it comes down to it this is a YA and those scenes were way to much for a 13-15 reading this. I was kinda disappointed how well Nathaniel seemed to have all the control. We need more female leads to take control in the bedroom and be feisty. And after saying that they didn't have sex but there still were racy scenes that should have made this a New Adult book rather than a YA. On another note the romance was sweet if maybe not all that believable it still struck a cord in my female heart. This is the reason the book only gets a 4 stars total because the romance was NOT meant for YA. 3 stars for romance.

Ending:  I loved what the author did for the ending. I have never come across another author who did this and that made me even more happy to share this. The author wrote two endings. Yes folks, two endings. I don't want to call the second one an alternate ending because it is more of a continuation of the first ending. The first ending is sweet with no cliffhangers and while the author asked not to share the details of the other ending in hopes of it not getting ruined for people who chose not to read on I will abide by her wishes and just say that the continuation left me like this:

I can't wait for book 3. I got up, ran to my calendar and wrote it in for April 2013. Yep April. My reaction:

Maybe it was a bit less dramatic but still left me heartbroken to wait but as they say: "The longer the wait the better the book."

What I Didn't Like:

The romance.

The wrong age category. 

The wait until book 3 comes out.

I recommend this book to OLDER TEENS and NEW ADULTS above ***16+*** not young teens because they shouldn't read things like this. 

Overall this book was well worth my time and almost tears. I will be waiting for book 3. Again this book only gets a 4 due to romance and age problems. I recommend it but it wasn't one of the best books ever.

Thanks for reading as always, 

~Cat

P.S. Sorry for the length :)

Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book: Sentinel

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout a.k.a J. Lynn

Quote:

Genre/Rating: Paranormal/Romance/Fantasy/Action

Recommended if you like: Richelle Mead, C.C. Hunter and really any paranormal authors

First I want to say how glad and sad I am for this finale of an amazing series. This series is so unique and special I just had to blog about it. I recommend this series to all my friends and even to people I don't know.
I want to start of by saying every word, every character, every book is written in pure perfection and lands itself as my second favorite series which I will say is a feat. 5 amazing stars to Jennifer L. Armentrout a.ka. J Lynn for her adult books and to the Half Blood series for a job well done. And before I get to far ahead of myself here is the summary:

It's a beautiful day for a war. As the mortal world slowly slips into chaos of the godly kind, Alexandria Andros must overcome a stunning defeat that has left her shaken and in doubt of their ability to end this war once and for all. And with all the obstacles between Alex and her happily-ever-after with the swoonworthy Aiden St. Delphi, they must now trust a deadly foe as they travel deep into the Underworld to release one of the most dangerous gods of all time. In the stunning, action-packed climax to the bestselling Covenant Series, Alex must face a terrible choice: the destruction of everything and everyone she holds dear... or the end of herself.
http://www.amazon.com/Sentinel-Covenant-ebook/dp/B00GD9F59S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383534009&sr=1-1&keywords=sentinel
That is the Amazon Kindle Link.

My Thoughts

Let me say one more thing: THIS IS THE FINAL BOOK IN THE SERIES!!!! You must read the first book and work through or you will understand nothing. For more details look at my first blog which is on the FIRST book in the series. Okay, then. Let's begin.

Plot: What is truly amazing about this series is how well the plot carries. There are 5 books to this series and when I picked up Sentinel I hadn't read the book before it (Apollyon) in quite some time so I was expecting to have to look back and think when did this happen? Well guess what, i didn't. Not once, which is the first time EVER that i didn't have to look back in a series and be like "Ohhhhh! That's what the author is talking about!" I was so excited by this fact so i told a friend who said the same thing. They plot never leaves you bored with everything that goes on there is no confusion or lag. The plot also keeps you so interested I guarantee you will be reading until the wee hours of the morning and even though you know you should stop you won't because you just need to know what happens. The story focuses on children of the Gods which is something you really don't see often but I wish we did. Plot: 5 stars.

Characters: Alex. Anyone who loves that tough as nails, bad girl who really is kick-ass and amazing then you will love Alex. I might love her even more than Rose Hathaway my number one Book List holder. Vampire Academy is holding on by that only its spin-off is great too but for a side note to fans Ms. Armentrout is giving a big announcement November 16th and I believe it will be a spin-off series with Seth (who I will get to later) as the MC. But that's just me speculating, I'll let you know after I go if its true or not. So anyway back to Alex. She is hilarious and wild but also soft and relate-able. I need to be able to relate to the MC and Alex even through crazy sh!t that she goes through is 100% completely relate-able to. Also Alex is the lovable main character who has such amazing character development though the novels as she deals with sacrifices and hardships and she always comes back on top. I also love that she doesn't whine about poor me and I hate my life. She knows how to fight and man, she fights. Alex is very independent and strong which I think a lot of girls can learn a thing or 20 from her.

When their is a strong female lead there must always be a strong male lead, and boy do we get a strong, really, really, really hot male lead. Aiden. One line from him and you will be swooning in love. He is Alex's medium and rock though this story. By God, I want me an Aiden. (I'll have overnight shipping Ms Armentrout, thanks) He always says the right thing and he always is there to pick Alex up when she stumbles. I LOVE HIM!!! He beats Dimitri Belikov hands down. Yeah girls I said it. Hands. Down. 

There is another male lead and I hate love triangles like all the rest of us but in this I never really felt like it was a love triangle. Yeah there were "Scenes" but i always felt like it was more of of a friendship to Alex than it was for the other male lead. The winner of the best friend/enemy is Seth. Let me start off saying that Seth, you, sir are an asshole. But somehow Ms. Armentrout makes you love him anyway because of how dimensional he is. I have to say it was a tough call who I wanted Alex to end up with at first but I am happy nonetheless. Seth's development was probably the most drastic and the most heartwarming. He seems so human despite his special-umm-ness. He was the most relate-able believe it or not because of his flaws and mistakes. We all make mistakes and have to live with them and I think Seth is the perfect example of character development. I really hope I am right about the spin-off series with him as the MC because I will be ALL over that. Seth is definitely one of my all time favorite book characters of male and female leads.

Jennifer L. Armentrout gives the perfect cast of characters that you will laugh you ass off, cry your eyes out  (especially that one), and wanna punch someone with (which Alex does often). The characters really do make the book and these were truly perfect in their unperfectness. 5 stars for Characters.

Writing/Syntax: The writing was perfect and the syntax was easily read and understood. I only have a tiney, tiny issue and that would be I saw some minor but obvious errors. I believe I picked out about 3 to be exact in this book and more in the others and I except that from self publishers(actually their errors are horrendous) but not an author with a publishing company behind her but as a true editor at heart the errors I saw were obvious and painful. I wish I didn't have to point that out and say the book was perfect but then I would not be doing my job as a reviewer. The errors should have been seen and corrected but I am happy to announce that was the only flaw I saw. But sadly still 3 stars (because they were so glaringly obvious I had to deduct 2 stars) for Writing/Syntax.

Cover: I had to write about this last because all the covers were so beautiful. Sentinel's cover was no exception but i felt like this cover really related to the story with the emptiness and soul looking smoke on it. (I am trying to keep spoiler down to a minimum.) This cover really made me gasp and fangirl because I knew it was connected to the story. So without further ado here is the cover:

Stunning. Absolutely perfect.
Cover gets 5 stars.

Overall the whole book still gets 5 stars even with my 3 stars for writing/syntax. I definitely recommend buying this series and I can guarantee 9 out of 10 people will love it. Above is the link for the Kindle version but you can go to her website and buy the hard copy. It was my favorite book of the series and an amazing end to an amazing series. Everything gets wrapped up in a nice, perfect little bow.
Sentinel gets 5 stars and the whole series gets 5 stars.
Job well done Ms. Armentrout, job well done.

~Always,
Cat
P.S. Feel free to comment but please be kind and courteous to one another and speak opinions in kind words. Please no cussing. Also put your opinion on the book because i would love to read it. :* Thanks!