Darkness Becomes Her (Gods & Monsters 1) by Kelly Keaton

A dark and lush paranormal romance set in a richly reimagined New Orleans–now in paperback!Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.Her search for answers uncovers a message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very…different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of “her.”

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed. (Goodreads)

The book is set in future New Orleans after the hurricanes. Ari has grown in foster homes and has tried to find out who her parents are, and maybe an explanation to her silver hair and teal eyes. After finding out her mother committed suicide, Ari finds letter in written by her mother that warns of a curse and to stay away from New 2 (New Orleans as it’s now called).
After Ari is attacked she decides to leave for New 2 where she discovers more about her family and meets new friends.

This is bit darker YA book and that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much. It was very action packed with kick-ass heroin and Greek mythology. What’s not to like?

I liked Ari and she’s not damsel in distress by any means. Her latest foster parents taught her to use weapons and defend herself. She has somehow foul mouth and there was surprisingly much cursing for YA book, I thought it was refreshing.

The book was much shorter than I would have guessed and the events takes place in few days time. And because of that there’s lot going on all the time which was fine except for the romance part. It just felt so rushed and again it takes pretty much one look and she’s head over heels in love. I liked them together but I wish there would have been more developing there.

But aside from that thing I loved the book and it was quite fast reading. Can’t wait for the next book!

And I have to say I like US cover so much more. I’m not fan of this one at all.

4/5
Published: Simon & Schuster (2011)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 273
Source: library

Fire (Graceling Realm 2) by Kristin Cashore

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.

This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there’s more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren’t afraid of becoming the monster her father was. (Goodreads)

There are monsters in Dell, beautiful in animal form and humans become dazzled by them. Fire is the last human monster and is much feared and hated. Monsters are drawn to her blood and wants to kill her.
War is coming to Dell and the king needs her talents because she can bend people to her will. Her father was advisor for the previous king and a cruel man so Fire isn’t liked or trusted in the city.

I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this book since I wasn’t huge fan of Graceling and I felt it was way too YA. At first I thought it was just ok but it got better and better towards the end.

I liked Fire who was strong and she was always trying to be the opposite of her father. And I liked how we have flashbacks about their relationship and what happened. The book has great characters and I really liked Brigan and Archer. Fire and Archer were childhood sweethearts but I think that she got over him little too easily. Like she just suddenly thought she had enough.

Since I liked this so much more than the debut book, can’t wait to see what she does with the next one, Looking forward reading it!

4/5
Published: Gollancz (2010)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Source: my own

A Certain Slant of Light (Light 1) by Laura Whitcomb

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen–terrified, but intrigued–is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess. (Goodreads)

Helen has been a ghost for 130 years and to live relatively normal life, she attach herself to humans. Her current host is a teacher and one day at a class she meets a boy who can see her. The boy, James, is a spirit who took over a body when it was empty. After learning that taking over a body is possible, she takes over Jenny’s body.

Okay I have to say that I didn’t like this. At all. I had problems with the writing style which was too descriptive and it felt way too overworked.

His body didn’t die,” he said, still fascinated by his own luck. “His spirit chose to leave. It’s difficult to explain. Instead of the ship going down taking the crew with it, the crew abandoned the ship, but the ship was still seaworthy.
pg. 24

You would think that when you choose a body who you want to possess, you’d learn about the persons life a little. Like who’s the parents, are they alive you know important stuff? But no, you jump in to just a random person because that makes sense.

I was already bored and kept laughing out loud at some idiotic parts but when we meet Jenny’s family I nearly threw the book. They were some uber Christian family and we get to read about many prayers they had, the books she was supposed to read…. Nearly nodded off by then.

I just couldn’t make myself to care what happened with the characters and did not enjoy the book at all.

1/5
Published: HMH Books for Young Readers (2005)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 282
Source: my own

Matched (Matched 1) by Ally Condie

On her seventeenth birthday, Cassia meets her match. The Society dictates that he is her perfect partner for life, except he’s not.

In Cassia’s society, Officials decide who people love.
How many children they have.
Where they work.
When they die.

But, as Cassia finds herself falling in love with another boy,
she is determined to make some choices of her own.

And that’s when her whole world
begins to unravel… (Goodreads)

In the Society everything is controlled; they work at the place that is best suited for them, they’re given specific foods to make sure they stay healthy, they’re free time is monitored and the Society decides with who you are married to.
When Cassia turns 17, she will know to who she is matched. When she learns that it will be Xander, her friend since childhood, she’s thrilled. When Cassia plugs in her microcard at home which is supposed to have information on her matched. But then another face flashed on the screen and then disappears. It’s Ky Markham and she has known him also from childhood. The Society isn’t supposed to make mistakes but Cassia is starting to question the Society.

Again here is a book that people has been raving about and I was little afraid how I would like it. And I was afraid for a reason.

I didn’t feel connected with the characters at all and couldn’t care less what happened with them. I didn’t feel any connection between Cassia and Ky or with Xander. So Ky’s face pops on the screen and the next time they meet she just notices how perfect he is. Even if they’ve known since childhood and never noticed him before. Xander is supposed to be her best friend, they can tell everything to each other and how much she cares about him. She certainly didn’t care about him when she started drooling after Ky. And I didn’t believe that Xander would be just ”oh well” and then help her to find the other guy. I mean really??

Okay I was really disappointed in this and I’m not reading the second book for sure.

2/5
Published: Razorbill (2010)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 366
Source: library