{A Kelly Coffee Review} Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Autor: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: Caster Chronicles

Genre: Young adult Paranormal

Publisher: Little Brown Books


 

Synopsis:

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

 

I know that Kelly M. and Kristin have already been over these roads, but I legitimately just read the book (and hadn't heard of it until I saw the stunning trailer on Breaking Dawn) and thought I'd go ahead and give my take on it in celebration of the movie release.


To begin: 5 stars. Why? Because I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to pick it up and read it in the middle of my workday, as I waited in line for things. I thought about it, thought about the characters and the world and the concepts even when I wasn't reading it. Was I totally 100% blown away? No. The prose didn't make me swoon or sit back in awe. It made me laugh but didn't  move me to tears. There were bits I thought were somewhat overdone or repetitive (dream sequences, anyone?), but I simply couldn't rate anything that engaged me this much as anything less than a 5.

I love Lena--the outsider who wants to belong but isn't willing to compromise who she is in order to fit in. She reaches out to that misfit, teenage part of me that makes her easy to identify with. Her strength, her intelligence, her vulnerability--I just want to follow her story. And I love Ethan--his devotion, the fact he's real, and scared and still refuses to be scared away.

The setting is so strong, so real that it's effortless to fall into. The supporting characters are strong. The concepts of Casters and their world are, I feel, very original takes on a theme that has become very now and "in", to the point of losing the edges that made vampires and witches and magic so appealing. I feel like Beautiful Creatures brought back those edges and the darkness that I loved so much about these paranormal novels.

Is it perfect? A paragon of the witchy, paranormal novel? Maybe not. Is it compelling, and original and just fantastic? Yes. There are places where it's a little campy, a little unbalanced, but the strength of the overall story and characters more than make up for it. Five stars, and I'm dying to dive into the rest of the series.

{A Kelly Coffee Review} Shadow Sight by E.J. Stevens

Title: Shadow Sight
Series: Ivy Granger #1
Author: E.J. Stevens
Genre: Supernatural/Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Sacred Oak Press

Synopsis: Some things are best left unseen...

Ivy Granger's second sight is finally giving her life purpose. Ivy and her best friend Jinx may not be raking in the dough, but their psychic detective agency pays the bills--most of the time. Their only worry is the boredom of a slow day and the occasional crazy client--until a demon walks through their door.

Demons are never a good sign...

A demon attorney representing the water fae? Stranger things have happened. And things are about to get very, very strange as a bloodthirsty nightmare hunts the city of Harborsmouth.

There's blood in the water...

Kelpies have a reputation for eating humans. Unfortunately, Kelpies are the clients. When an Unseelie faerie this evil stalks the waterways of your city, you have to make hard choices.

The lesser of two evils...

For a book that I thought would be right in my wheelhouse, this was not what I expected. There is incredible potential in this book/series, because there are actually a number of interesting ideas and takes on familiar concepts that I appreciated.

To start, she has a world that includes demons, witches, vampires and faeries, and I think she does a reasonably good job balancing all of those magical and supernatural mega-powers.  Just the variety in the base gives the world a lot of places to go and a lot of angles to consider. Second, her main character, Ivy, is psychometric--she gets visions from touching emotionally charged objects/people. That is a tetchy ability to land your main character with because it could be so socially detrimental, and I think that the realities and practicalities of living with a powerful (and uncontrolled) ability like Ivy's are very well addressed and represented. The consequences and hazards of living with psychometry are treated realistically, and Ivy has issues because of it.

I have to say, for such a short book, I really struggled with this one. I liked her take on vampires, couldn't decide how I felt about the demon, and was touch-and-go on her treatment of the fae. I almost feel like the shortness of the novel does it a disservice, because there just isn't that much time allotted to really sink into the world before it's falling apart around the reader. Ivy was an interesting character, but no one really jumped to life for me.

For some reason, it just didn't hold my attention. I was never sucked in, never felt like I couldn't walk away from it, was never emotionally invested. I don't know why, but for me, there was no connect. My overall impression of the book is that it's strangely forgettable. I was left with no strong impression or feeling about it, vaguely annoyed at the love element thrown in at the very end. My suspension of disbelief was stretched to its very limits and I wasn't even annoyed by it. I just didn't get any emotional investment. It's as if the bubble that Ivy tries so hard to live in, to keep herself separate (with good reason, mind) has saturated the story, so that there's a layer of fuzz between the reader and the action. Something about it made me feel like I was reading a premise or an outline--all the big stuff is there, now fill it out and don't forget the emotion.

That being said, I am intrigued enough by the world and the concept that I would read the next one, just to see if it fills out better, if I can sink into her world more and connect. The base its solid. I just need to feel the story, not read the outline.

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes

Title: Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula
Author: Elise Stokes
Genre: Urban Fantasy, YA
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Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Jones wakes up the morning after a minor accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist to discover that her body has undergone some bizarre physical changes. Her senses, strength, and speed have been radically enhanced.

After exploring her newfound abilities, Cassidy learns that the geneticist, Professor Serena Phillips, is missing and that foul play is suspected. Terrified that her physical changes and Professor Phillips' disappearance are somehow connected, Cassidy decides to keep her strange transformation a secret. That is, until she meets the professor's brilliant and mysterious fifteen-year-old son, Emery. An unlikely duo, they set out to find Emery's mother, who is key in explaining Cassidy's newly acquired superpowers.

Their lives are put at risk when they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous, action-packed adventure. Soon they are forced to confront a maniacal villain willing to do anything - including murder - to reach his own ambitious goals.

I want to start by simply saying...I loved this book. I don't typically read books whose main characters are younger than 16, just a preference of mine, but Cassidy was a fun and engaging character. I loved the fact that the parents are highly involved in the kids lives and are major players in the story. The events of the books are well written in first person from Cassidy's point-of-view. The action sequences were amazing...I could picture every move Cassidy was making, possibly because I watch too much TV. Elise's world-building creates a dynamic scenario for Cassidy and Emery.

There was no "real" romance in Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula. Allusions to typical fourteen year-old crushes are made but not delved upon. Cassidy's emotions are all over the place...again, in typical fourteen year-old girl style, but Elise puts a twist on the reasoning of these mood changes and brings Emery in as a diversion.

Everything about this book sucked me in completely. The action starts on the first page and just keeps on going.  Although, I do have to say, I wasn't sure where Elise was taking me in the beginning. It wasn't long before the mission was revealed. The nail-biting action scenes kept the story flowing at a perfect pace, pulling me along on the roller-coaster ride that was Cassidy's life. She was a complete kick-butt heroin who pulled out an arsenal of moves and weapons to save the things most important to her.

 Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula is a perfect read for all ages...even middle school. You won't find cursing or inappropriate sexual content in this book. Perfect for middle-school. There are many scientific references that may be over most people's heads (including many adults) but all you need to know is Cassidy has superpowers and you will love this book.

*I was given a free ebook by the author in return for my honest review.