Review/Discussion: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published Date: May 23rd 2013
My Rating: 4 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. 

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. 

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

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This book. Oh, this book. I have heard so many contradictory opinions, and I can see why. It had so many brilliant factors, but it had me rolling my eyes a few times too. It played on my emotions and made a mess of me in the end!

Firstly, let's talk about the writing. I don't particularly care what genre it is I'm reading so long as the writing is good, and Susan Ee certainly has a good writing style. She had me hooked from the very first line if I'm being honest,with the right level of description to add depth but not detract from the plot. The plot itself was great. I liked the setting, the story, the kickass heroine and her determination to save her sister. I liked how we were constantly reminded that this was about Penryn trying to save her sister an not some cheesy romance. 

An agnostic angel. That had me laughing so damn hard. what a joke. This is why I don't take these books seriously but rather with a pinch of salt. When Raffe started looking like a human and dropping his sarcastic one-liners I decided to no longer think of him as an angel but rather a generic other worldly being, otherwise I would drive myself crazy and it would ruin the book for me. Also, technicalities when ignored bother me so damn much. Like th fact that he has super hearing but misses (more than once) the sound of people coming to get him with damn guns. But that aside, this book was completely enthralling and I found myself unable to put it aside for even a minute. 4 awesome stars from me!

Now for the discussion part.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!

Okay I need to whine about that ending. Raffe waits until he thinks she's dead before finally admitting feelings for her? In front of the very people he needs to convince he's not fallen?? AND, (back to the super hearing thing) he can hear everything and he can't hear her breathing? because if she's conscious, even though she's paralysed, surely she's breathing and surely he can hear her?! wow that frustrated me and made me want to scream. This book seriously wreaked havock on my emotions! The aerie was really cool though and my favourite part. I like how (for the most part) the angels who came to cause destruction actually did come across as terrifying to the humans and not just lust-inducing hotties (although there was a little of that but not nearly as poorly done as in other books).

The creepy, gorey parts positively cringed me out, which I loved, and when she finally found her sister I kind of wanted to cry for her. It was seriously disgusting. And her interactions with her schizophrenic mother were kind of sweet in their own weird way. These were the main characters I cared for (as well as Josiah). When Ee writes good characters, theyre btilliant. Obidah , the twins etc were neither here nor there. They didn't particularly feel developed enough for me to create any kind of attachment.

All in all, this book was a pretty great start to what I believe is going to be a 5 part series and I can see that this has the potential to become amazing! Definitely looking forward to reading World After whenever I get my hands on it.

Review: Now You See Me by Emma Haughton

Title: Now You See Me

Author: Emma Haughton

Publisher: Usborne

Release Date: May 1st 2014

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:

Three years ago, thirteen-year-old Danny Geller vanished without trace.

His family and friends are still hanging on to every last shred of hope. Not knowing if he's alive or dead, their world is shrouded in shadows, secrets and suspicions.

This is the story of what happens when hope comes back to haunt you. When your desperation is used against you. When you search for the truth – but are too scared to accept the reality staring you in the face...

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This book is from a genre I haven't read very much of. It's a YA psychological thriller about a 16 year old girl whose best friend disappeared 3 years ago when they were just 13. This is the story of those who have to deal with a missing loved one, and how it affects them all. It's a story of how those who cling to hope can be extremely vulnerable.

Being one of the few psychological thrillers I've ever read, it was pretty enthralling and reiterated in my mind that I really do need to read more from this genre. Now You See Me switches between the past, present and future, showing us the cause of this sombre story and the consequences. It was really enjoyable, if a little predictable. Some of the twists I saw coming a mile off but there was one or two things that I didn't expect. The main character was very likeable, if a little too comfortable with denial. It was frustrating to see her question things that didn't add up, only to then convince herself she couldn't be right. I was empathetic and could understand why she wouldn't want to face the reality she could see but that didn't make me want to scream at her any less!

The pace of the book worked well, as I wasn't left in the dust, nor was I itching to skip parts (as can sometimes happen!). It was the right pace to accompany the jump in times and kept me reading pretty much nonstop! It was a quick read that I finished fairly quickly in two sittings.

The epilogue was so frustrating for me. I need an extension to that epilogue so badly! The event that comes to pass in the epilogue is what I was most looking forward to the whole time I was reading, so to have it just briefly visited and cut off abruptly was extremely annoying. However having stewed on it for a few days I can understand why she ended it where she did.

Overall I'd give this a solid 3.5 stars, definitely enjoyable and worth the read!

(I won this book in a goodreads firstreads giveaway)

Review: Eversea by Natasha Boyd

Title: Eversea
Author: Natasha Boyd
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Release date: May 1st 2014
My rating: 4 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:
An orphaned, small-town, southern girl, held hostage by responsibility and self-doubt.

A Hollywood A-list mega-star, on the run from his latest scandal and with everything to lose.

A chance encounter that leads to an unlikely arrangement and epic love affair that will change them both for ever.

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This is a book for all you ladies out there who have ever fantasised about running into your celebrity crush in your local town of all places and and living that romantic dream. Funnily enough I'm not the kind of girl who has celebrity crushes or cares about celebrities at all really, but this book kind of made me want to!

Jack Eversea is the movie star that every girl is in love with. He's living it up in LA with his perfect job and the perfect girlfriend and the perfect life. That is until said girlfriend's true colours are shown and she's discovered doing naughty things with someone other than Jack. This isn't Jack's story though. This is the story of Keri Ann Butler, your relatively ordinary woman just trying to keep up with her work and restore the Butler House which is the pride of the town. She's patiently waiting for her brother to finish up his studies and come back to house sit so she can finally start her life, and has sworn off men as well as any other distraction that could risk tying her down to her little old town. The last thing she ever expected was the face of her film and book hero, world famous actor Jack Eversea, to walk into her life and jazz things up.

This book was such an easy, quick read that was just the right amount of emotional turmoil and sappy, and I mean that in the best way. I loved the two main characters and the way in which their story was told. I really enjoyed how controversial Jack's character came across and the way it made me question whether what he was doing was okay or not. I really loved Keri Ann's character and personality. She was fun to read about and was written in a way that everybody would find something about her to relate to. The setting was beautiful and I loved the tidbits of information that were put in, including and especially the turtles. I was surprised to find I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated the writing style that Boyd has. Since NA can be a very hit or miss genre, I tend to find that the writing of the majority is extremely poor.  Here however that isn't the case. It was captivating and emotional far better than I could have expected. 

The pace of the novel was excellent.  It didn't feel like the story was developing too quickly or too slowly and there was no instalove thank goodness. The secondary characters were great in that they were vivid and enjoyable and added to the story of the two main characters, without taking over the novel or being shoved too far in the background.

Overall this was a great romantic read which didn't necessarily give the typical ending and has me itching to pick up where things left off and find out what happens next. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, Forever Jack. 4 awesome stars!