Review: Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Everbound
Everneath #2

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publication Date: January 22, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology

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Synopsis:

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away. 

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.
Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own. 

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.

My Thoughts: First off, I want to praise the covers for this series.  I absolutely adore both the cover from Everneath and this one as well.  I loved the first book in this series and I was really excited when Everbound came out.  The last book had such an intense cliffhanger that I was still hanging on to the edge of my seat.

Jack is now in the Everneath, taking Nikki's spot in the tunnels permanently so that she didn't have to return to them herself.  Nikki is determined to do everything that she can to get him out of the tunnels, even if that means that she has to journey into the Everneath to save him - but that means that she needs help from Cole, the immortal that took her to the Everneath in the first place and who she tried to kill in the last book.  Luckily, Cole has a weak spot for her, since he wants Nikki to take over the Everneath and be his Queen so they can rule together.

I really enjoyed the time we got to spend with Cole in this book.  I am not sure what it is about him, but I really, really like him.  I mean, Jack is fine and all - the good guy all-American boy.  There is just something about Cole that intrigues me so much more.

Nikki in this novel really does try to take things into her own hands.  She no longer is playing the victim card, something that she did all of the first book.  Now, it is all about saving Jack.  She is determined and forceful and it is a nice change in her, something that I really thought was missing from Everneath. It is so nice when you can watch a character morph and learn and grow throughout a series.

All in all, I enjoyed this novel thoroughly.  It gave me more insight into the characters, the Everneath and really had me hanging on and wanting more.  It left on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I can't wait to read the third one when it comes out!

Review: Waterdancer by Samantha Combs

Waterdancer

Author: Samantha Combs

Publication Date: September 7, 2012

Publisher: Musa Publishing

Thank you Musa Publishing for the review copy

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

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Synopsis:

For Bailey Wasserman, being Bailey has recently become an incredible challenge. It's not enough that she must come to terms with her mother's new husband, their new life, and a new surfer boyfriend. When she meets her real father for the first time, she discovers a secret family trait that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…maybe forever.
Bailey and her mom have always met life’s challenges as a team of two, more like best friends than mother and daughter. But her mom’s recent marriage has changed all of that, and having her little brother Landry is the only good Bailey can find in that union. The move to wealthy Del Mar from their humble beginnings has turned Bailey sour, until a chance meeting with surf hottie Jack West. Then Bailey’s father, with his annoying Zen-surfer lingo and a talking turtle he claims is no less than her spirit guardian, reenters her life and threatens the only relationship Bailey thinks is working in her world. She soon finds out that’s not all his arrival will do. His presence and their shared family trait could ultimately force Bailey to make a decision that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…forever.

My Thoughts: I’m not entirely sure what I thought of this book, which is strange for me since I normally have quite strong opinions. There is a bunch of ways I could examine this novel and come up with a variety of different conclusions on it. I have decided to treat Waterdancer like a fairytale, because it certainly reminded me of one.
The surfer-lingo in this book had me laughing at times and gave me a throw-back to the 90s, but I found it hilarious. I don’t know much about surfing, even though I lived by the ocean my whole life. We got the highest tides, not the highest waves.
The characters, for the most part, were likeable. I wish the book had been a little longer only so that we could have seen more character development.
The novel is a short, quick read which I strangely liked. It moves fast and some parts are kind of hard to believe (like reactions from people), but I believed it flowed with the feel of the whole story and worked. There were a few things that I would have liked clarification on, since it went so fast, but since it had a fairytale sort of feel to it, I can forgive it for that. An explanation as to why the whole curse happened in the first place, for instance, would have added.
I enjoyed Waterdancer as a quick, light read. If I had been looking for something more I would have been disappointed. It would make a great addition into the classic fairytales.

T.G.I.F (14)

Thank Great Illustrators Fridays is a book meme created and hosted by Owl Read It.

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but a lot of the time the cover is what draws you to the book in the first place.  This meme is to show appreciation to the artists who put their time and effort into creating the great book covers of our beloved series.

To Participate:

• Pick a book cover you love (any book will do - released or not)
• Post the picture of the book along with the author & publisher 
• Post a brief summary of why you like the cover.  
• Take the pic above and link back to us :)

This Week's T.G.I.F. Cover:

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Projected Publishing Date: January 22. 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Short Summary: Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help...

My Thoughts: I loved the first book in this series (which also has an amazing cover) and can't wait for this one to be released!  I love how her dress blends into the smoke. All in all, this cover is pretty awesome.

What are your favourite book covers? Leave us a link to your own T.G.I.F! :)

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath
(Everneath #1)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publication Date: January 24th, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray

Genre: Paranormal / Mythology

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Synopsis:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her friends—before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s...

My Thoughts: Everneath is Brodi Ashton's debut novel and it is awesome!! I love mythology!! This book is based off of the myth about Orpheus and Eurydice, with a little bit focused around Persephone and Hades. I'm definitely a new fan of Ashton and can't believe that I waited so long to read this one. It's just been sitting on my bookshelf for the last 3 months with me always saying "next" (there's a couple of those books!). Finally though, I picked it up to give it a read. It's a fairly easy read, and every time I would look up and see where my bookmark was and how much I had read, I was surprised. It's just one of those books that when I was reading, I would forget about everything else and just get lost in the book.

The protagonist is Nikki Beckett. We start off with when she is waking up in the Everneath after a century long Feed, so when the Everlings  drain all the emotion from a human, maintaining their immortality for another century. Time passes differently in the Everneath, so only 6 month have gone by on  the Surface. So of course, she comes back looking like a strung out junkie and everyone assumes she was just lost to drugs. She doesn't know how she survived and remembered her life before, but it has something to do with Jack, the boy she loved.

I think one of the things that Iliked the most was the style that Ashton wrote this book in. It's basically just a huge countdown for when Nikki will be sucked back in to the Everneath, into the awful world of the Tunnels, where the last of her energy will be spent powering the Everneath until she just fades away. There has to be a way for her to survive, but it's pretty much inevitable. We also got a lot of flashbacks so we could see her relationships with the other characters and what made her decide to become a Forfeit (so  she volenteered to have her life sucked out of her). I just kept reading because I needed to know what was going to happen to her. I do have to say though, the end was a bit predictable. There was a bit of forshadowing though.

Overall, I think this is a great debut novel for Brodi Ashton and I will definitely be looking out for more from her in the future. There is mythology, romance and a bit of suspense. It has a few creepy moments,  but it ends nicely. Actually it left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, so I need to know what happens next and will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Everbound. Should you read it? Yes, you should, especially if you are a fan of mythology! I definitely reccomend this one. Have you read any good YA lately that has a mythology theme? What would you recommend?

Review: A Bite's Tale by Veronica Blade

A Bite's Tale

Author: Veronica Blade

Publication Date: January 4th, 2102

Genre: Paranormal / Fairy Tale Retelling

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Synopsis:

A Cinderella who spends her nights as a wolf. A prince with a taste for blood. Seventeen year old Cydney struggles against her werewolf nature, trying to keep everyone around her safe. No way will she risk exposing the beast at the prince’s ball, no matter how her two cousins try to persuade her. Even as she attempts to get on with her life, Cydney can’t forget the boy she loved three summers ago — or what she did to him after losing control. Turned into a vampire to save his life, the prince refuses to live up to his royal duties. He just wants to find the girl he loved and lost...the werewolf girl who bit him. But his father, the king, commands him to attend a ball where he must choose a wife. Can he find his Cinderella before he's forced to marry another? He doesn’t even have her real name, much less a glass slipper.