The Book that Broke Briana

Ensnared (aka the book that broke Briana)

by A.G. Howard

Expected Publication Date: January 6th 2015

Source: Liberty Bay Books

Version: Paper Back ARC

Disclaimer: I am trying to keep this general, but I wouldn't recommend reading this review at all if you haven't read at least the first book, Splintered. There are some details that may hint at certain outcomes or spoilers. Spoilers or large hints to spoilers are "gray-ed" out and you can highlight them to read at your own risk!

Request: If you do highlight and read the spoilers please do not discuss specifics in the comments or elsewhere because that would spoil it to those that chose not to read the spoilers, and wait for the book.

After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She's determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world--a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that's gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?

First off, I want to squeal and give a HUGE shout out to Liberty Bay Books for the ARC. (I died a little inside when I found it.) Also, A.G. Howard TWEETED ME BACK! It was so cool to have an author actually respond to tweets about their book! (I don't dislike it when authors do not do this because that is asking a lot, but I just thought it was cool that she took the time to reply to every single one!)

Let's kick it off with the one issue I had. The romance. You may remember from my review of Unhinged that I became hardcore team Morpheus during that book. So naturally I was rooting for him, but I did like Jeb for a while, so I didn't really feel like there was anyway I could be too horribly disappointed by the outcome of the triangle. I was mistaken. I hated how the triangle was resolved.(SPOILER) A choice never really had to be made, and personally I found the resolution a little weak and lack luster. I can't say more without spoiling it. Go read it then come back and we can discuss it.

(SPOILER) Also, everyone had such a happy ending. Everything was just wrapped up in a little bow with no loose ends and that kind of frustrated me. Life doesn't happen like that so why do stories?

However, Ensnared maintained all the other things I loved from Splintered, and Unhinged. The characters were still their brilliant selves (well mostly *wink wink*), however I wished there had been a little bit more development evident as it was happening. Characters changed, and it was obvious at the end, and it was explicitly showed in a few moments along the way. I was impressed by the amount of character development that it had though.

The plot was still cool and on point. It kept me wanting more, although I may have liked the plot of the others, a smidge better.

Again, the writing and voice were super fun and really worked well with everything else.

Last Thoughts: Despite a few minor qualms, I devoured this book and it devoured me. It was super fun and I was entertained through every second of it. The concept of the entire series is stellar. Howard crafts a unique series like no other, with an ultimately satisfying ending. I have to give it four to four and one half stars out of five because the few problems I had with it were too large to ignore.

Goodreads and Liberty Bay Books!

General Gif Consensus: 

Now That You're Here

Now That You're Here

by Amy K. Nichols

Expected Publication Date: December 9th, 2014

Source: Liberty Bay Books

Form: Physical ARC

In a parallel universe, the classic bad boy falls for the class science geek.

One minute Danny was running from the cops, and the next, he jolted awake in an unfamiliar body--his own, but different. Somehow, he's crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and studious Eevee is not the mysterious femme fatale he once kissed back home. Then again, this Eevee--a girl who'd rather land an internship at NASA than a date to the prom--may be his only hope of getting home.

Eevee tells herself she's only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there's something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension . . . a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.

I am not hugely into sci-fi, but this one was great and sure to please both sci-fi followers, and romance lovers alike. It bridges the to genre's beautifully. There were a few times there was a bit too much math and science that was quite a bit over my head, but thankfully I didn't need to have a firm grasp on every math and science-y thing in the book, and when I did, it was broken down enough that even I could follow it. 

The concept with parallel universes was super cool, and something I hadn't really read before. Nichols did an amazing job and really embraced to concept. I felt like the sci-fi spin really took the romance to the next level as well. As I said above, the two elements were blended seamlessly.

The plot was done pretty darn well, it was a little slow at moments, but never painfully so. Sadly the ending didn't quite live up to my hopes and I felt like a lot happened kind of all of the sudden in the last little section. However, it kept me on my toes, and made me hunger for more, so in my opinion, mission accomplished. 

The writing was good, but honestly, I was so into the story, I didn't look too closely at it. 

I loved all of the characters they were so different. The parent situation, was strange, and her parents were even stranger, but I kind of loved the strangeness of it. Parallel universe Danny, Eevee and their friends were pretty quirky, but oh so sweet. Danny melted my heart, and honestly I didn't see him as a classic bad boy at all. Eevee was someone I could relate too, even though we are like two different halves of a brain. She was just as sweet as Danny, a bit quiet and awkward at times, but above all, a typical teenage geek. Her relationship with her parents was prominent and they were very involved, despite the highly atypical parental situation. (You'll see what I mean by that, when you read the book. ;)) 

Last Thought: This book swept me off my feet. It was intense, interesting, mysterious, and utterly sweet. Like nothing I've ever read, Now That You're Here took my by surprise, and left my dying to read the next book. I give it a strong four and one half stars out of five, and recommend it to lovers or sci-fi, romance, and anything inbetween. This is one read you won't regret.

Goodreads and Liberty Bay Books!

General Gif. Consensus: 

The Girl From The Well

The Girl From The Well

by Rin Chupeco

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night. 

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out. 

 I really, really  love horror type books. I haven't read many, but I must say every one of the ones I've tried has been totally worth it. The Girl From The Well was no exception, and worth every penny.

I thought it was going to be ALL about Okiku. Thankfully it wasn't. It was also largely Tark's story. I honestly don't think it would have worked as well if it had been all about Okiku 24/7.  There was a good balance that really helped take the book to the next level.

I loved every. Single. Character. Ok, that's not entirely true,  I wasn't a huge fan of Tark's dad. He wasn't really there, he cared, but it didn't really seem like he did. His actions felt conflicted. (I also wasn't a fan of the lack of parents all around.)

Tark was adorable. I felt for him. I didn't feel super-duper connected to him or anything, but I really did sympathize with him and I really enjoyed him.

Okiku was definitely my favorite, but I feel like that was because I got to know her best out of all of them. I loved how she was used as an unreliable narrator and the way she is so conflicted. Her struggle is so beautiful and she just makes you feel all the feels.

Callie was a really cool character she was kind, strong, and independent, and really a great role model. However, she wasn't setting standards insanely high. She was very normal and expressed human emotions and reactions to the situation like not trusting the creepy, murdering, ghost girl. Common sense folks, this girl had it. After a while I was kind of annoyed with her distrust though. Okiku had already proved she was trying to do the right thing. She'd always come through for Tark and Callie and their loved ones, she was helping souls, and the only people she hurt kind of deserved it. Yet Callie still won't trust or believe that Okiku won't do something crazy like posess them or murder her and Tark in their sleep. I get that she does some bad stuff but by the end we've pretty much established that she won't ever hurt them. However, that may just be because I am biased and love Okiku. I do understand Callie's distrust, I just was pretty much over it by the end, and I wanted her to be over it too. 

Miscellaneous things I loved:

-Plot. It was very suspenseful and mysterious. This one is a page turner. It was a bit heavy, but I still wanted to devour it.

-Revealing. The mystery was unparalleled. Chupeco did such an amazing job of dropping little hints and giving just enough information that it wasn't confusing, but you still didn't really know the whole picture. She didn't reveal it all so slowly that it was painful, and it never all came out in a big section of word vomit and info dumping.

-Writing/Style. The feeling of the writing and just everything about it from the perspective to the style was cool and creepy and intense. Not many books are written like this one let alone achieve that same chilling and suspenseful feel.

One last issue:

-The ending. I was so ready for a killer ending. I wanted it to be resolved but I wanted my heart to still be racing by the end. I wanted to be holding my breath and to have my heart twisted. None of that happened. It was resolved, but  maybe a little too much so. It was like everyone, or almost everyone rode off into the Disney sunset and all was right with the world again. It wasn't a bad ending, I just wanted it to be a bit more gritty, and more bittersweet after all I went through to get there. There was such build up then it just ended.

Last Thoughts: This book may or may not have claimed my soul. It was one of the creepiest and most successfully suspenseful and mysterious books I've read. Tastefully freaky, it will get under your skin and once it does, there is no stopping until you've read every word.

Four and a half or five stars, I can't decide. Either way it receives my highest recommendation and my utmost devotion. ;)

Goodreads and Liberty Bay Books.

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Review Double Trouble Style

Review

Double Trouble

Style

Shadows:

It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.

And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

Haze:

"But what if we can’t find Jude?" 

He leans closer. His breath is warm on my ear. "We will."

"How can you be so sure?" I want to believe him so badly, but this is Rafa. The guy who’s all action and no plan. His smile is tired, knowing. An echo of a shared past I don’t remember. 

"Because I’m not smart enough to give up, and you don’t know how to." 

Gaby Winters’ nightmares have stopped but she still can’t remember her old life. Still can’t quite believe she is one of the Rephaim—the wingless half-angels who can shift from place to place, country to country, in the blink of an eye. That she was once the Rephaim’s best fighter. That demons exist. That Rafa has stayed. 

But most of all, she can’t quite believe that her twin brother, Jude, might be alive. 

And Gaby can’t explain the hesitancy that sidetracks the search for him, infuriates Rafa, and sends them, again, into the darkest danger.

So, I read both of these on my trip. I purchased Shadows myself after receiving Haze as an e-ARC from Net Galley and Random House of Canada Limited in exchange for an honest review. (Thanks guys!) I was super excited to dig into an angel/ nephilim book because it has been for ever since I've read one. There was that phase/time when every book ever centered around angels or nephilim and I got really sick of them, so I've avoided them. I was really excited to read that type book again and was really hoping that these would be great. 

On that same track, let's talk about my thoughts on the general concept and story line.  I found Weston's approach to it all quite refreshing and I loved what she did with it all! It was not at all like all the other books out there. There was no info dumping, but the world building was great and there was enough history that it wasn't confusing. I thought it was a really cool twist, very original and I felt it worked quite well

Boy, oh boy, the characters! Ooo, did I love them! They were all unique and had depth and dimension they were lovable, and spunky, and fresh. Rafa was hotter than Hades even though he could be a bitt of a butthead, it was in a lovable way. 

I loved Gaby and Maggie just as much. Gaby was so tough, yet volatile and spunky, and loving, and she had breakdowns. I loved that she had breakdowns. She was strong but let's face it no one is so strong that they don't go through the occasional breakdown. Her breakdown's weren't annoying, just realistic. Although the character growth was a little lacking and very subtle, I didn't care and had no problems with the characters.

The plot for Shadows  was well paced for the most part and it was all deliciously dramatic. Haze's plot was just as good and the ending was killer. (That just started the part of the song "You Give Love a Bad Name" where it is all "shot through the heart and you're to blame, and I realized that that pretty much sums up every fan's feelings about the ending.) It was shocking and emotional and just mm! I was left clutching my heart and whispering no!

The writing was acctually really good and I admire Weston for her amazing story crafting skill. I really had no problems with either book and Haze was a great follow up to Shadows. It did anything but pale in comparison to the first book and I loved the craziness and the drama of it all. 

Last Thoughts: I'd highly recommend these books to anyone who likes this genre. To people who are wary of Angel and Nephilim books, I'd say give it a chance and keep an open mind because these are not your average, cookie cutter Angel and Nephilim books. I am giving it four and a half stars out of five but really there isn't much of a reason for it not being a five our of five, other than the fact that I've gotten really stingy about giving five star ratings.

Shadows: Goodreads, Liberty Bay Books

Haze: Goodreads, Liberty Bay Books

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Unhinged

Unhinged

by A.G. Howard 

---

Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

---

It's finally happened, I'm waving my white flag in surrender! (Don't you see it off on that distant horizon?) Cait, I hope you're happy. I've succumbed to the dark side and I better get cookies (at least virtual ones) for it *shoots threatening look at Cait* I'm totally, irrevocably, only slightly shamefully, team...Morpheus. 

I'm not sure at what point I picked sides of the love triangle, or completely abandoned my shipping of Jeyssa/Alyseb. But, now there is no turning back, despite his flaws I love him to pieces. His motives are almost always good but let's face it his actions muddy things up, a  lot. I don't even care, because it's the thought that counts. Right?

I don't know what it was about Jeb he did all the right things for all the right reasons all the time, but for some reason in this book, I just wanted him to go away already. Move aside for Morpheus!  Speaking of moving aside for the other man in the triangle, A.G. Howard introduced a very different approach/solution to the entire love triangle situation via Ivory and I loved the idea. At first I was kind of like ew, no, not ok man! But the more I thought about the more I loved it!  I'm not going to say any thing else for spoiler purposes, but suffice it to say that I have quite warmed to the idea, and I approve. 

Alyssa was her fabulous self, and I loved every Alyssa filled second of the book. She is a really well rounded character and someone girls can actually look up to.  Although, I felt like her strength was a bit smothered in most of the book. 

The plot was great as usual, and that ending!

Words can not express how much I completely loved the ending! THE FEELS! It was utter perfection! It couldn't possibly have been better. 

The writing was just as good as in the first book. I was so thrilled that for once, the second book was equally as awesome as the first book! That doesn't always happen, in fact it is a rarity for me, so I was very impressed and excited. 

Last Thoughts: BUY IT! BUY IT NOW! 

Goodreads / Liberty Bay Books

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