"Duplicity" by Nikki Jefford

Thank you Nikki for letting me review Duplicity! It was a very nice continuation to Entangled, and I really enjoyed it!

The writing style was once again entertaining, making me want to read until the end of the book. And to yearn for more after I was finnished. I can honestly not wait for Enchantment, Book 3 to come out, so I could have a closure for Graylee and Charlene's story.

So what can I say? Duplicity took my beloved characters, Gray and Raj, on an entirely new level. They grew into their roles and became better people.

What surprised me was that Gray #2 was both similar and different from her other version, who now lives in Stacy Morehouse's body. I thought that they'd act and think the same, but no. It was like Gray #2 had stayed back in time, while Gray #1 had evolved into a new person. It was pretty awesome to read about them.

Raj made me want to punch him at one time, though to be honest, I totally understood him.

Oh well, I won't reveal anything else, if you're curious, read the book for yourself. :)

"All the Broken Pieces" by Cindy Madsen

NOTE: I received this eARC from Entangled Publishing.
OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! This book was so incredibly awesome!!!!! It took me several days to finish it only because I had a major exam to study for, otherwise I would've devoured it for one day!

All The Broken Pieces, in my opinion, is where Pushing The Limits meets One Moment. But it's also so much more! It's got a unique plot where most of the story revolves around this extremely humongous secret that just made me want to keep going so I could see if my theories would come out to be true. The rest of the story had all the romantic moments a teen girl would want to read about. Heck, it had all the cute stuff any girl/woman would want to read about.

So, I guess what I want to say is that the book was just perfect for my taste. I loved every bit of it: the plot, the world building, the characters, the writing style... it was so brilliant that I'm definitely putting it on my to-reread list.

Now about the characters, let me give my humble two cents.

*Olivia, a.k.a. Liv, is the lead female, who's mind consists of a plethora of jumbled up thoughts and feelings, none of which seem to be her own. She wakes up one day from a coma, unable to remember even her own name. Her parents are the only secure thing in her life- her rock and shelter. Until memories start to come back to her, and they aren't anything to be proud with. even so, Liv turns out to have this really awesome personality. She's a good friend, doesn't keep a grudge, loves with all her heart and doesn't care to conform to the popular group. I can say that she's my type of girl.

*Spencer starts off as a complete jerk. He doesn't care to talk to anyone, to think of anyone. And he has a pretty good reason for it. But when Liv steps into his line of sight, he's unable to hold his own. He's mesmerized and completely thrown out of his comfort zone. It's great that Liv turned out to be to building block he needed in order to re-enter life. Also, the fact that Spencer turned out to be the one person Liv could rely on was really adorable.

*Mr. and Mrs. Stein, Liv's parents were full of secrets, but they were also amazing as characters and parents.

*Keira was a friend everyone would love to have in high school.

So, in conclusion I can only say thanks to Entangled Publishing for letting me read this galley.

My rating is

"Dash and Lily's Book of Dares" by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

NOTE: I received this title from Netgalley.

I'm a total sucker for contemporary YA books, where there's an original and interesting story line. Dash & Lily's book of dares was one such book, that impressed me very much.

I liked the writing style. It was easy to read and follow, and I felt like it pushed me to read on until I was at the last page. The story was engrossing and full of cheery suspense, making me curious to know what the next challenge in the book would be. I really really enjoy such dare games, though I've never participated in one myself. So this was a nice way to experience the adventure.

Enough about the story. Now the characters:

*Dash... mmm... well, what can I say about that sarcastic boy who seems to see the world through a black lens? He was dashing, real and he had suffered through a lot with his family. His witty cynicism was spectacular, although there were times when his attitude totally disappointed me. But of course, there were times when he surprised me with his hidden sweet demeanor. He was a complicated guy, and I honestly really love complicated guys. It's always fun to figure out their story.

*Lily was the embodiment of sweetness. She was just generally good, she'd never hurt a mosquito, she'd never insult anyone, she'd always help whoever however she could. But there was just one problem - her family was so overprotective of her, no boy was ever allowed in a mile radius of her. Thanks to her brother though, things changed. The book of dares was thought out and planted and voila! There was a hook for just the right boy.

All of Lily's relatives were sweethearts, except perhaps Mark. Aunt Ida was awesome in her support of Dash, and I totally loved her for it!

If you love a great contemporary romance, this is the book for you!

My rating is:

"Shift" by Kim Curran

NOTE: I received this book to review from NetGalley.

When I read the title of this book, I thought I'd be reading just another animal type of shifter story. Guess how surprised I was when it turned out that this wasn't the case at all. Which was good actually, since animal shifting can't really offer much of a unique plot lately.

Anyways, so Shift was the story of a underground society of kids who can literally change their choices in time. The plot was original and the story telling was intriguing. So much that I could hardly put the book down. I was engrossed to the very last page.

There were moments of humor and moments where I wanted to just scream, and both of these are certain traits of an awesome read.

Another thing I liked was that it seemed like this was a single volume book. So yay! No series! :)

Now let me say a bit about the characters, and how the many twists and turns made me love or hate them in different stages of the story.

*Scott was pretty much your average (or below average) kid. He had no idea that at the blink of an eye he could be someone totally different. Then he shifted and things changed and nothing was ever the same. Of course there was the thing of the main character being the most special somehow. I won't say how exactly, so you'd get curious and go buy the book :D

*Aubrey was a character who came out of nowhere in Scott's world and introduced him to the world where he actually belonged. She was obstinate and adventurous and brave. She was protective of her beliefs, and she had a head on her shoulders. That's the type of heroine I like and feel for.

*Benjo was the character I'd never forget, and if you read the book you'll know why. He was such a well developed person, even if he totally grossed me out.

There were a bunch of characters from the ARES (Shifter control) organization that had me fooled of their real personalities. Which makes the story and suspense really good.

So all I can say is this: I recommend the book to all YA readers, and then some. :)


My rating is:

"Conjure" by Lea Nolan

NOTE: I received this book for review from Entangled Publishing.

I hoped that Conjure would turn out to be a book I love, and I wasn't wrong. It was a very unique read that got me engulfed from the very first page and kept me going on and on until I reached the end. And now I just want MORE!!! Can't wait for the second book to come out!!! It was so engrossing, I finished it in barely two days!

I loved the story, not only because it was unique, but also because it wasn't at all connected to voo-doo of any sort. It had to do with healing, while having faith in the Lord. Now that was something that came to me very unexpected, but I liked it! I don't think I would've loved the story had it been about the voo-doo type of practices.

Anyways, the story revolved around a couple of ancient curses, a girl and two guys who got in the middle of it all, and an old Gullah Grannie (hoo-doo doctor) who had the knowledge and power to help. There are no love triangles here, and that was something I really liked. (I'm tired of the love triangle concept, to be honest. Can't there be just one girl to one guy attractions anymore????) I really liked how the plot developed and escalated until the very end when it turned into a sucking-your-attention hurricane of emotions. Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT!!!

But, there were a couple of times when the characters seemed to act a bit unnatural and unrealistic, and that's why I just can't give it all those stars.

So, that leads us to the characters themselves. In this story, they aren't too many. Just over half a dozen I think.

*Emmaline was the POV character. She was brave and ready to risk her own life and happiness for the better of the people she loved and cared about. She even became a hoo-doo apprentice, fought demon dogs and a bunch of other things so she could save her brother and best friend. I liked how Emma grew from just an ordinary girl to this very devoted young woman.

*Jack, Emma's brother was such a brat almost all the time, I honestly wanted to take a stick and beat him with it. He annoyed the wits out of me with his stupid bratty attitude. He behaved like he was some king or something, and everyone else had to do his bidding. SO ANNOYING!!!! And no, what happened to him cannot soften my opinion at all. He totally deserved it.

*Connor, Jack and Emma's best friend, and Emma's unrequited love, was a real sweetheart. Though sometimes he was just waaaaaay too goody two shoes. I mean, seriously, who hesitates to do whatever is necessary when their life and their friend's life is at stake? Well, this guy did. And yeah, sometimes he had a point, but at others his attitude just annoyed me. Guys are supposed to have less scruples in such situations, aren't they?

*Maggie... well I think I knew who she was from the very beginning. I just couldn't make up my mind whether she's one of the good guys, or one of the bad.

*Miss Delia was such a clever, open-hearted grannie, I couldn't just not love her. You know what I mean. She gave everything she was capable of to help Emma and the boys, even when things seemed a little too out of line.

Well, if you want to know more about this novel, you're gonna have to check it out yourself. :) I totally recommend it, and I believe you won't be disappointed.


My rating is: