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!

Blur by Kristen Middleton

http://www.amazon.com/Blur-Night-Roamers-Volume-1/dp/1478343001/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372266322&sr=8-2&keywords=blur

That's the amazon address to read the summary. Okay so this book was free on my Kindle and i can see why. 

Plot: Twilight + Immoral Series = Blur. This story was mostly a rip off from Twilight but had some elements from Immortal series. The whole story was about a girl, her twin brother, and her mom who move to a new place to get away from a psycho dad. That's the only original thing in there. She meets a boy who instead of working on cars (Jacob) works on boats. Oh how clever. Then there is murders happening and the people have their throats ripped out. Didn't see that coming. Then a boy who is pale and she figures out a vampire. She has a magnetic pull to him and can't help wanting to jump him. So she does. FYI this is for ages 16+. There was no sex but wow it was close. And awkward because i felt she was cheating on boat boy. Just me though. Honestly the story was so silly and such a rip off i spent most of my time laughing at it.

Characters: The main character is Nikki and she is dull, confusing, and apparently the only one who can put two and two together. I didn't mind her at first then as she was like i want boat boy but no! Now i want vampire boy! It got annoying, She feel in love with two people in the matter of like 5 pages. Uh, okay. Nathan, her brother is annoying as i don't know what. He is the stereotype of man. I man, you girl. I master. Then he seems to pimp Nikki off. He's like I'm okay with you dating so and so. Who asked your permission buddy. Duncan is you're all American stereotype guy. And apparently a super good person who stays with his Dad so he won't be lonely. I'm just surprised he didn't turn into a werewolf. Well, there's always book 2. The comes Ethan. Honestly, Ethan is a rapist. Not kidding. He enters Nikki's mind and makes her do 'stuff'. But somehow she loves him and has that special magnetic pull. She trusts him despite him mind raping her and then since he craves her blood so much she lets him have some. Like omg. These people. So if you couldn't tell from this they sound just like Edward, Bella, and Jacob. There even is a vampire daddy where all other vampire children stay with him. Hmmm. Can anyone say Carlisle? And the real characters name is Caleb...yeah. 

Writing/Syntax: The syntax was good. Ms. Middleton had not too many errors that i noticed. I just wish the story was more original because she had some pretty good ideas in there. 

There is a book 2. I won't be reading it but if you do read it comment below and tell me if she got more original or not. Also there is a book 3 but again i won't be reading it. This book left me severely disappointed. The beginning was great but slowly turned stereotypical, cliche, and a rip off from Twilight. I give it 1 star just because of the good beginning. Comment below with your thoughts and opinions but please no cursing. Younger children might stumble upon my site. Also if you wan me to read a book and review it. My review will be fair and honest. Thanks,

~Cat 

This post will be on Rebel Heart by Lizzy Ford. I am going to be straight up about this. I hated it. The story made no sense, the characters were dull, and the setting was plain.
Plot: The problem with the plot was that there wasn't one. I had no idea who the bad guys were, who the heroine and hero were running from and what was so damn bad about them. I can't say anything besides that because that was all i got.
Characters: Lana was boring and was a coward. She hid behind people, let people die, and wouldn't tell people who were trying to help important information. She was stupid and has no personality. Brady was a bit better in the personality department but has too much personality. Like he was two different people. One second he is nice the next he ismad and killing things. No exaggeration. The whole story was silly and pointless. I see why it was so cheep on my Kindle.
My final say is don't read this. I personally give it 0 stars. It was that bad. Also this story contains sex but there is no graphic recounting or happening of it. They say it happen and that's that. I'll go with 14+ to read this one, but as i said before don't waste your time or money.
~Cat
To get a summary of the book here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Heart-Lizzy-Ford/dp/1477559647/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372096072&sr=8-2&keywords=rebel+heart

Okay so today i am going to review Zoey Rogue by Lizzy Ford. Contains SPOILERS!
Plot: The plot was okay. The whole conflict was fuzzy it was basically good guys v. bad guys. But i wasn't sure who were the bad guys. Cambions are evil sex fueled murdering children of human women and incubus father's. The main character Zoey fights these evil creatures with her team. Then she gets mixed up in this who fate thing with an incubus. Wow didn't see that coming. Then her people are really the bad people so the bad guys was everyone. The story had cheating in it which I didn't like and drops off with a cliff hanger.
Characters: Zoey was fierce yet not fierce. She was a very strong character and probably the only reason i finished the story but as the story progressed she got annoying and loses her fire. She became whiny and easily placated. Then Declan was okay. I can't really think of anything bad but I can't think of anything good about him either. Zoey's team was loyal and strong. Team R for rejects. I wasn't to fond of the characters or the story.
The book was confusing but ended okay. I will say i probably won't go get the second one. And please no one under 16 read this book. It has sex and foul language. That stuff doesn't bother me but some people might find it offensive. Thanks for reading check back and ill have more posts. Also if you guys want me to read a book the review it comment below and I'll check it out. But remember you might like the book and I might not. Keep that in mind.
~Cat

So today's review is on a book called The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles. Here's the summary in a nutshell: A girl named Elle and her best friend Lee decide for the school carnival to open a kissing booth, hence title. They open it and Lee's brother Noah (AKA Flynn) kisses Elle so they begin a "relationship" and many problems occur. So my first thought was this sounds interesting. I was wrong. This book in my honest opinion was not very good. Let me explain why. Elle is not strong or smart or anything. I found her quite dull. She makes so many stupid choices. And Noah the "bad boy" is not bad at all. Let's be honest how many bad boys get accepted to Harvard, have all A's, and is the school's football quarterback? None. Then the problem in the book is so ridiculous. Elle is worried Lee will be mad at her for dating his brother but the whole book Lee is teasing her for liking Noah and he knows she does. It made no sense. Then she had to get the relationship cleared with Lee before she said yes to date Noah. Is he her dad? Elle acts more in love with Lee than she does with Noah. She was always like "I can't bear to lose Lee! But its okay to lose Noah, I mean i love him but not as much as Lee." Uh, okay. WTH. And then not only was the logic and conflict faulty so was the romance! They sneak around and have sex when not even a week after her first kiss! And they weren't dating! She was 16. Do it at whatever age you want but i thought that the story was erratic. I think it was poorly written and i DO NOT recommend anyone under 16 to read this book. Actually i do not recommend anyone to read this book. 1 star. And i gave it one because i liked the names, or it would've gotten no stars.
-Cat

Welcome to fiercebookblogger.blogspot.com! This is my first blog and I'm going to review one my personal favorite books. It is by Jennifer L. Armentrout and it's called Half-Blood. This is a summary from Amazon.com
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.
When i bought this book i didn't have very high expectations but i fell in love with the story and characters. The beginning of the book was kind of slow but picked up before i got bored and then I was sucked right into the story and it didn't let me go once. Alex is a kick-ass teenage girl. She fights and has a smart mouth and i absolutely love her. Alex is hilarious . Her running commentary and  her Alex logic make half the book and keep you laughing all the way. Jennifer Armentrout creates such a wonderful female protagonist but also her male protagonist had me obsessing and my teachers yelling at me to put my kindle down! I didn't. Aiden St. Delphi, he is handsome and leaves you swooning way after you finish the story, funny (in a dry way), and so sweet! Any girl will fall in love with him. Completely and forever. The story flows and makes you wanna chuck the book (or kindle in my case) clear across the room in anger, frustration, happiness, and sadness. Since this is an honest book review i do have to go over the flaws. There are very minor spelling errors and some predictable parts but other than those two that's all the flaws i found. I recommend this book to 13 and up because of minor curses and sexual situations  This is a 5 book series. The final book hasn't come out yet. It will be out Fall 2013. YAY! But anyway, I give this book 5 stars because the plot is good and keeps the reader riveted, the characters are amazing (Seth is one of them, you will understand), and the syntax and dialogue are excellent. A must read!!!! So my readers please go pick this series up! Thanks, Cat!!