Blog Tour Stop: Review of Primal by D.A. Serra

We were given a copy of this book by Virtual Author Book Tours for our fair and honest review.

Primal by D.A. Serra
Dani’s rating: 5 stars 
Steph’s rating: 5 stars
Overall Rating: 5 stars

Format: e-book
Publisher: Perry Street Pictures Inc. 
Pages: 218

Goodreads Synopsis:
This thriller story, originally purchased by one of America's most popular storytellers, James Cameron, is now a novel!

What if the worst happens and you're not a policemen, or a soldier, or a spy with weapons training and an iron heart. What if you're a schoolteacher - a mother? In this gritty crime thriller a family vacation takes a vicious turn when a fishing camp is invaded by four armed men. With nothing except her brains, her will, and the element of surprise on her side, Alison must kill or watch her family die. And then, things gets worse

 Dani’s Review: 

When Alison Kraft's son Jimmy asks to go to a fishing camp far, far away from civilization for his birthday, the Kraft family's world is thrown into pandemonium...

Primal is truly a staggering crime and psychological thriller. The fact that it is D. A. Serra’s debut novel makes it all the more stupefying, and readers will be left eagerly anticipating more works from this promising new author. Readers will find themselves holding their breaths as they read about the fatal fishing trip that changes Alison, once a rather quiet and shy schoolteacher, into a primal “animal” who will do whatever it takes to save her family. D.A. Serra’s writing style completely submerges the reader in the story and renders the entire plotline believable and utterly real.

What really made this book amazing is D.A Serra's writing. She carefully manipulated simple words to  convey each character’s emotions. She is a MASTER of words, making each individual scene blossom vividly in my mind. I am in awe of this amazing lady! Primal would make an AWESOME movie, especially since James Cameron would be directing it! Ms. Serra changed the point of view between both major and minor characters so I could really understand each character’s different yet somehow connected lives. A prison warden who guards a dangerous murderer unknowingly is the catalyst for the Kraft family’s unfortunate “vacation to hell”. Somehow Ms. Serra tied all her characters together even though some had never met each other! Flawless writing.

Primal could almost be classified as a psychological thriller because of the emotions of the characters. It was really interesting to get inside the killer’s mind and find out how they think--how they could quell the lives of innocents without any qualms. The Kraft family, especially Alison had to recover from their trip and return to their normal lives. Alison battles her tumultuous emotions and attempts to go against her instincts. She thinks that the killer is hunting her and her family.  But, when she tries to take controversial precautions including buying two HUGE guns, she is ostracized by her closest allies, her family. No one believes her. The entire community thinks she’s crazy.

The vivid descriptions in Primal are a lot like movie scenes. Let me show you a passage from Primal to show you what I mean...

Dan says to Hank,"Maybe you should have left her at the spa."

Hank defends, "Hey, she's a trooper. She came along and it--"

The front door bursts open! Violent winds and sheeting rain blast into the room along with the four Burne brothers. Around the dinner table, mouths drop open and eyes widen.

The theme of the word "primal" appears often in this book. Well, it is called Primal. This book involves how people can revert to their primal instincts when circumstances call for them to emerge. When Alison's son Jimmy is threatened, she is willing to sacrifice herself to save him. This is only the beginning of her newfound intuition.

My words do not give justice to how good Primal is. Even if you don't like thrillers very much, I advise you to still read Primal! Before reading Primal, I didn't like thrillers very much because they are often not realistic, but Primal has changed my mindset. Okay, so a part of Primal's plot may not seem very realistic, but Ms. Serra sucked me into the plot and her writing made the entire thing seem believable! So get your hands on a copy of Primal now! Or...Enter our giveaway tomorrow for a PDF of PRIMAL! Also, there will be an interview with Mrs. Serra tomorrow.

Steph's Thoughts: 

Like Dani stated, reading Primal is almost like watching a movie. Every scene, every action, and every thought in Primal is described in such thorough detail, almost as if an image is being directly painted into your mind. A lot of the times, readers will want a book to "get to the point" because lots of description can really drag on, but D.A. Serra manages to weave her words together in a way that gives you lots of information, while still keeping you completely engrossed in the book. It is truly one of a kind.

Because of all these descriptions, you are able to connect to the main characters to what feels like molecular level. I know I did. All of the suspense and tension Serra creates throughout really builds up to an absolutely explosive climactic point that I actually wasn't expecting. I felt scared for Alison, and somehow I felt scared for myself too. Reading Primal just leaves you with a completely indescribable feeling, because you know that the events in it could really happen to anyone--including yourself. This work is very original, and is like a good dose of reality especially to a paranormal fiction reader (i.e. me). 

 

I recommend this to everyone! You will be amazed by Primal's story and D.A. Serra's writing style, and you will be left with an unforgettable feeling!

Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Steph's Rating: 1 star

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Little Brown and Co.

Publication Date: December 1st, 2009

Pages: 563

Goodreads 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.

Steph's Review:

 

It was pretty hard to get through the 300 or so pages of 550 that I actually read. The plot isn't terrible I guess, but it was just so, so epically SLOW. I could not finish this book--which is a good 550 pages of super fluff (couldn't finish = 1 star).

This probably would've been a good book if the authors crunched down a little and perhaps condensed this book into just the plot and the things related to it instead of all these "and the rest of the week/month was uneventful" pages. Is this Twilight or something? Please. Just not for me, though I'm sure a lot of people will love this book. Someone else could say the the fluff helps prolong the suspense, but it was too much of it for me because it just left me bored and unexcited.

Why I couldn't finish/my problems with it:

1. Slowness: Nothing happens in the 1st half, and I just gave up on reading it 3/4 of the way through. You literally don't find out anything about what Lena is until halfway of an excessively long book for the plot it is covering. It would've been more interesting if the big plot points weren't spaced out with chapters and chapters of boring and uninteresting narration.

2. Characters: I don't really like the narrator voice. Ethan's not very cool, and not alpha-like in my opinion. Lena just bores me. I couldn't warm up to either of them even though I tried. I have no idea what Ethan sees in her, just like how I don't understand how every hot guy in Twilight was chasing after that plain old Bella's heart.

3. Insta-love: As soon as Lena and Ethan see each other, they are just drawn together and intrigue each other for like no reason. I am not a fan of couples that are just haphazardly slapped together with no basis for their love. It was kind of cheesy and sappy too in my opinion.

4. Plot: Pretty uninteresting to me, but that's probably related to the slowness. When I actually read through something major, I honestly forgot what the one before it was. I found myself skipping a lot of pages, lines, paragraphs, etc.

I read this for the Beautiful Creatures movie, and I ended up not liking it. I'm not really sure if I'm going to see the movie now either. I definitely won't be reading the rest of the series. Though I didn't like it, I can see a lot of stuff true romantics would like in this. I think it had potential to be better, but just a no from me. I only recommend this to super Twilight fans.

Review: Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion by Lauren Kate
Reviewed by Dani
Dani’s Rating: 3 stars
Overall Rating: 3 stars

Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: June 14th, 2011
Pages: 420

Goodreads Synopsis:

Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way...

Luce is certain that something-or someone-in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

Dani’s Review:

Passion really disappointed me. I was expecting this sequel to Torment, which I thoroughly enjoyed, to be really good. Instead, I found a boring, corny book. Basically all that happened is Luce traveling through time watching her previous love lives with Daniel. It’s relatively interesting, but it gets boring after reading 10 different scenarios with the exact same plot! It’s Luce meets Daniel, doesn’t know why she’s attracted to him, they fall in love, Luce erupts into flames, and Daniel’s heart is broken. Again. I do feel bad for the guy because he’s had to watch his soulmate die every seventeen years for an entire millennia! Or even more than a millennia!

    Part of the reason I didn’t like this book much was because all of my favorite characters weren’t really in it. Oh, they appeared in the plot here and there, but were not the main supporting characters that they were in the 2 previous books. No more of Shelby’s hilarious grumpiness, Miles’s cuteness, Arianne just being the carefree punk she is, Cam’s dark sexiness, or Roland’s soulfulness. Instead, we just got an anonymous being in gargoyle form who goes by the name Bill. And of course, Daniel. But the most cheesy part of this whole book has to be the fact that when Daniel is trying to follow Luce, HE DOES NOT CATCH UP WITH HER UNTIL THE VERY END. So essentially 400 pages were spent reading about Luce’s past lives, trying to understand WHY she dies. Most readers can already guess it by the first few lives, but still Luce is pondering it. The end is also pretty strange. I won’t tell you what happens, but know that you will be confused by the end. There’s not as much foreshadowing telling the reader what’s going to happen in Rapture. (4th books) Therefore, the reader will lose interest because there’s no cliffhanger. I’m not saying that I particularly like cliffhangers, but cliffhangers sometimes really motivate me and get me excited for the next book!

    Now let’s move on to some more positive reviewing! I did enjoy reading about Luce and Daniel’s various love stories, but I got tired of it after a while. I didn’t receive the same “I HAVE TO PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER TO FINISH READING THIS BOOK” feel that I had with Fallen and Torment. You will be shocked when you read about Luce’s previous personalities because some of them were nothing like her present personality! Who knew that Luce’s personalities could range from a quiet monk to a snobby English lady!

    All in all, Passion was okay. Not as good as Fallen and Torment, but still worth reading if you are an extreme Fallen fan. Now, as a result of Passion’s semi boring plot, Rapture (Fallen #4) is not on my must-read list anymore. It is on my books-to-read-when- I-have-nothing-else-to-read pile. So, if you are a huge Fallen fan, read Passion! If you are not but you have read Fallen and Torment, then put Passion on your books-to-read-later list.

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish event hosted by Breaking the Spine. This is a meme that many book blogs participate in to goggle over highly anticipated upcoming releases and fabulous covers and authors!

For this week's Waiting on Wednesday, Dani and I would like to spotlight Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I don't think we can possibly describe how much we want this book now, and this so far is one of the TOP books we are looking forward to. If you finished reading Deity, you know exactly what I'm talking about. That ending was a complete killer and we are seriously just desperate for Apollyon. Have if pre-ordered from The Book Depository! Release Day on April 9th, 2013 by Spencer Hill Press. Here's a blurb from Goodreads:

Fate isn’t something to mess with… and now, neither is Alex.

Alex has always feared two things: losing herself in the 

Awakening and being placed on the Elixir. But love has always been stronger than Fate, and Aiden St. Delphi is willing to make war on the gods—and Alex herself—to bring her back.

The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.

That synopsis just gives away so much, yet nothing at all. You have no idea how hard I am trying to figure out what Jen's plotted in Apollyon. The Underworld? Can't wait to see Jen's take on Hades's realm! There is so much we need to find out! 

Early reviews, teasers, and info on Apollyon HERE. 

The Book Depository Pre-ordering (discounted) HERE.

Amazon Pre-order HERE.

We've got our calendar and a countdown widget on the left set for April 9th! Don't miss this Covenant Series--it is amazing to the core! 

Dani and Steph

Teaser Tuesday 2/5/13 (3): Primal by D.A. Serra

• Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

 

Today Dani and I have a teaser for you from Primal by D.A. Serra. We are actually going to be doing a blog tour (including a review, author interview, and an international giveaway of a copy) on this next week, and you can find more information about that in the Blog Tours tab. This book is full of suspense, and will leave your heart pounding!

Goodreads Synopsis: 

This thriller story, originally purchased by one of America's most popular storytellers, James Cameron, is now a novel!

What if the worst happens and you're not a policemen, or a soldier, or a spy with weapons training and an iron heart. What if you're a schoolteacher - a mother? In this gritty crime thriller a family vacation takes a vicious turn when a fishing camp is invaded by four armed men. With nothing except her brains, her will, and the element of surprise on her side, Alison must kill or watch her family die. And then, things gets worse.

Your teaser:

In this moment, on this rickety dock, he faces the fact that he is a completely dependent individual. He has no practical skills, and no idea how to survive.

~(pg. 44, Primal)

This was a wonderful book, full of description, and Serra was able to astound me with her creative writing. Review and Giveaway to come in the next week!

Release Day: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

I've been so busy the past few days that I have ended up neglecting this blog. Finally today though, I will be having a double-post, this one of them being the release day for Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter!

I've been an Ally Carter fan since elementary school too, after I discovered I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, which is the first book in her bestselling Gallagher Girls series. After reading that, I started branching out and I read her next series, Heist Society, as soon as it came out. I love it as much as I love Gallagher Girls, and I am so excited about the release of Perfect Scoundrels, Heist Society #3! 

Here is the Goodreads Synopsis:

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it's that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting--or stealing--whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale's family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother's will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company's fortune. So instead of being the heir--this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she's willing to save her boyfriend's company if it means losing the boy.

From that summary, I really want to read this book! Lose Hale? I refuse. No. I love Hale (he and Kat both made the book boyfriend/heroine chart) and he and Kat are just one of the cutest YA couples ever. I must find out what happens! 

You can find some early reviews and info on Perfect Scoundrels HERE. 

Cannot wait to read this!

Steph

Review: Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz

Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz
Steph’s Rating: 4 ½  stars
Overall Rating: 4 ½  stars

Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: January 15th, 2013
Pages: 368

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Schuyler Van Alen is running out of time. The Dark Prince of Hell is storming the Gates of Paradise, intent on winning the heavenly throne for good. This time he has his greatest angels by his side, Abbadon and Azrael—Jack and Mimi Force, as they are known in the Coven.

Or so he thinks. Even as Lucifer assigns Jack and Mimi the tasks of killing their true loves, the Force twins secretly vow to defeat the Dark Prince once and for all. But how far will Mimi and Jack go to conceal their real loyalties?

Meanwhile, former vampire Bliss Llewellyn has joined forces with Lawson, the greatest wolf of the underworld, to free his people from their imprisonment in Hell. As they struggle against impossible odds, an ancient message, woven into the very fabric of time, reveals just how much depends on the success of their mission.

Lucifer seeks the key to the Gate of Promise, and when Schuyler is taken captive and delivered straight to Hell, she must make an unthinkable choice—the same one the archangel Michael was forced to make during the Crisis in Rome. Will Schuyler find the strength to do what he could not?

The epic, heartbreaking Blue Bloods series comes to a close with this final novel about staggering courage, unbearable sacrifice, and the immortality of true love.

Steph’s Review: This will be a pretty long review headsup.

*sobs massively*. It’s the end of Blue Bloods. I will forever miss the adventures of Sky, Jack, Ollie, and Mimi. This has been one of my favorite series since I was a little dweeb in elementary school, and around that point only Masquerade or Revelations had come out. I’ve been following this series since, waiting the torturously long waits for the next book with all the other fans out there, and loving every minute of the words Mel etched into these novels.

Well. it’s not quite the end, but I will get to that.

This was a pretty perfect ending to Blue Bloods. Most of the unraveled ends that had everyone scratching their heads have been tied up while Mel built up the suspense and action. Before the final showdown against Lucifer, Schuyler and Oliver are running around the globe to find clues to the key of the Gate of Promise, the last gate in the way of Lucifer and his spawn from returning to Paradise. Schuyler has a destiny to save the angels of Heaven and the Blue Blood race, one that she finally comes to understand in Gates of Paradise.

I’m pretty sure a lot of people will complain about this book because of Jack and Schuyler. I know I was asking the “Are they or are they not” question over and over again throughout this book. If you’ve read up to Lost in Time, you know that Schuyler and Jack separated so Jack could deal with his broken bond with Mimi. They don’t quite meet up again in Gates of Paradise because of a little scheme Abbadon and Azrael are running... :). The problem is, Ollie has been cured of his love for Sky by the witch of the East End, and Jack is nowhere to be found. Steamy Romance *poof* (for those who care)! I was never a huge fan of Jack so I actually didn’t care that there wasn’t a Sky/Jack romance going on the entire time. I actually found it a little annoying and cheesy before.

I am actually really proud of Schuyler in this book. Since Jack isn’t around to save her every time there is trouble hiding in a corner, Schuyler as a character grows and matures in a way she probably wouldn’t have if Jack was still there. She knows now that the Van Alen legacy at hand is one she must solve on her own, because really no one else has a hope of understanding it. I didn’t like her much in the books before, but Mel has made me a Schuyler fan right at the finish line.

Although I said that Gates of Paradise is a little lacking in romance, I don’t mean its nonexistent. There is a new character introduced that has a little something to do with Stephen Bendix Chase...and lets just say one of our good old characters has found a new infatuation >:) *smiles evily*.

Overall there is just so much character development in this book. I feel like its really hard to get to everyone, especially since Gates of Paradise is told in multiple POV’s: Schuyler, Bliss, Mimi, Kingsley, Lawson, and Tomasia (Allegra in a older cycle)--I think that gets them all. Everyone is changing and growing, and finally making duty first in front of their own selfish wants. They are putting survival of the race before themselves.

You didn’t forget about Mimi and Kingsley did you? They are my fave couple in the entire Blue Bloods series, just because Kingsley is one hilariously sexy guy. A lot of readers hate on Mimi, but I actually like and pity her. I mean seriously, she got ditched at her own bonding ceremony. She’s not the dumb blond that everyone takes her for and she does have feelings. I think everyone will like Mimi a little more in this book, especially after reading a lot of her POV. You will just have to read to find out the outcome of the Mimi and Kingsley relationship. Lips are sealed.

The only real complaint I have about Gates of Paradise, which lead me to give it 4 ½ stars was the ending. There is a huge twist at the end that left my eyes bulging. I wasn’t entirely unhappy with it, but it was just so surprising; I didn’t see it coming. The epilogue raised a TON of questions too. At the end of the book Mel leaves us the little kind of “the end...for now” message. She mentioned that there would be a “surprise” that will take place in the Blue Bloods world, but she hasn’t said what so far. I thought Mel answered all of my unanswered questions in the last chapter, but right at the epilogue, as in the last few pages, she dumped a load of questions in my head. Full-blown, mind boggling questions that I also did not see coming. Since Blue Bloods was a series in itself, I thought it deserved its own thorough conclusion/HEA. I didn’t want it to be a conjunction to whatever her next plan is. Mel ended up not concluding at all really and left me utterly confused, which was not how I wanted to feel at the last book of Blue Bloods.

Besides the fact that Mel has left me completely dying for her new plan, this was a great installment to Blue Bloods. Gates of Paradise completely unraveled me and gave me countless change of hearts. It evoked gasps and  feelings of pity and love from me, more so than any other book she’s written. Any lover of Blue Bloods is sure to enjoy this final installment!

Steph