A Touch of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy #1) by Rebecca Crunden

A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden

My Rating: ★★★

In the distant future, what remains of mankind lives under the harsh leadership in the Kingdom of Cutta. Hailing from a rich family close to the king, Catherine has a perfect sheltered life until her fiance's brother gets in a fight that leaves the pair traveling through land that has been mostly untouched for a thousand years. They contract a unique disease that leaves them unable to touch anyone but each other, and her soon to be brother in law begins to rot from the inside out. One wrong move leaves them running for their lives and trying to find safety beyond Cutta.

I really enjoyed this story. I have a soft spot for dystopian novels, so I knew this was going to be right up my alley. The characters are strong willed, clear, and vibrant. I found myself loving the relationships between them and found myself sad the few times well loved characters were leaving. One of the things I love about this story is the world building. Crunden carefully works to create a clear vision of what this world looks like and how it works without taking her readers out of the story. It was also interesting to watch the wool slowly get snatched from Catherine's sheltered eyes. She's forced to think about the world she thought she lived in and see how it really is. She's rather naive and stubborn when it comes to this, so she's constantly fighting with Nate and herself about reality.

That said, sometimes the arguing between Catherine and Nate got to be too much. I knew they were going to continue to clash throughout the story, but their arguments started to become redundant and wordy as I got closer to the end. That's my only complaint about this great series opener. Crunden did a wonderful job at setting up the plot for future books, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second installment.

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

My Rating: ★★

Makani makes one jealous mistake and her life was over. She lost her boyfriend and her friends. Not even her parents look at her the same, not that she blames them. Her parents decide to ship her off to live with her grandma and enter a small town life where no knows who she is and what her secret is. However, small town life goes from normal to alarming when a terrifying killer appears without a clear pattern.

I really enjoyed the rotating perspectives with Makani being the central voice that we see. I love several of the characters, especially Makani's grandma. I would love to hang out with her grandma and put together puzzles and stuff. I loved Makini's friends and the high school gossip element as well. It reminded me of being back in school and the gossip that spread fast.

However, there were a few things that kept taking me out of the story. The first thing is Makani's big secret past. I wish we knew what it was a lot sooner than when she finally spilled the beans so that we knew what was weighing her down so much. I was finding myself more interested in what the big secret was than the murder plot. Finally, the romance plot overshadows the horror plot. I wish the creepy factor was a little more amped up and that the romance was scaled back a bit.

Several of my friends have been raving about this book, so I really wanted to love it. Sadly, it just isn't a match made in heaven. For me, this novel is far more YA romance than horror, which is not something that I was expecting. There are things that I like about this book, but the things that bothered me just made it fall flat. All in all, it's not a bad book. There are definitely some good things going on in it. I think it simply comes down to it just not being my cup of tea. That said, several of my friends love it and I already plan on recommending it to a few more because I know they'll love it too. I also think that it would make a great slasher movie that I would most likely enjoy.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Rating: ★★★★

Abby and her best friend, Gretchen, are as close as best friends could get. One day they drop acid with a couple of friends from school, but the acid never hits, and Gretchen takes off wearing nothing but a pair of shoes. Things get weird when she turns up hours later with an unseen entity: a demon hell bent on destroying everything Gretchen cares about. The demon burns every bridge there is and leaves Gretchen with a single bright spot: Abby.

I absolutely love this story. It's a demon possession rooted in one of my favorite things to read about: friendship. The story starts out a little slow, but it's important to build this close friendship so that it's realistic for Abby to risk it all when she's all that Gretchen has left. I love that we quickly go through the early years between these two characters. How they met in school but never really spoke until Abby's disastrous birthday party with a single guest: Gretchen. These two are inseparable after the bond they shared at this party, which reminds me of how it was for me and my best friends throughout school. These characters feel natural and relatable, which makes it so easy to root for them and pray they come out on top.

Whether you believe in demons or demon possession, the story is realistic enough to make you question whether or not Gretchen is possessed or if she's just turned on everyone even when things are clearly leaning toward possession. She's not crawling up walls or anything like that. It starts out somewhat subtle and quickly turns to evil, which makes it a chilling tale.

The story really comes out swinging once things get going, and I like that we also get a glimpse at the rest of their lives. It comes full circle and makes it a truly enjoyable book. Plus, Hendrix does an excellent job capturing the voices of his characters and makes them really sound their ages and genders. There was no mistaking who was who or at what point in their life he captured them at any point of the story. Even the subtle changes in Gretchen as the demon took over made who was present very clear. I will definitely be rereading this novel in the future.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

My Rating: ★★★

Catherine is a talented baker who dreams of owning and running a bakery with her friend. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for her. The King of Hearts is so taken by Catherine's beauty and baking that he wants to wed her, and her parents refuse to see her do anything but honor her duty as their only daughter. She is forced to fight fate and choose to take a chance and live out her dreams or become the queen she was always meant to be.

I was really excited when I first heard about this book. Not only is it a Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retelling, but also a Queen of Hearts origin story. I love origin stories, and the idea of following a tale that tells the story of the Queen of Hearts is an exciting one.

Unfortunately, Heartless did not live up to my excitement, but I may have built it up more than I should have. It's a great story, but it lagged a bit for about half the book. Again, I may have had higher expectations than I should have, so I think I was just expecting something more. That said, it's an entertaining story. The characters are wonderfully enriching, so it's exciting every time we meet a familiar face as the book continues. I love the little bits of foreshadowing that are cleverly weaved in as the story continues.

It was occasionally hard to follow Catherine because she was so blinded by her dreams and opinions as well as perspective. However, it did make sense for someone of her age in a Young Adult novel, as well as someone who dreams more than they pay attention to reality for a large portion of time. All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I hope to see more retellings from the perspective of villains in the future.

Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall (Honeychurch Hall Mystery #4) by Hannah Dennison

Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison

My Rating: ★★★★★

Iris is wracked with dread and worry when her manuscript never makes it to her publisher, which threatens to divulge her secret life as a famous romance novelist. To make things worse, it's the only copy of her manuscript and the package never left her local post office because it's the hands of one of the town gossipers. Meanwhile, Kat gets caught up in hilarious romantic shenanigans that lands her on the front pages yet again. Plus, she's wrapped up in a series of seemingly separate small town mysteries with the answers, and dangers, quickly catching up with her.

I absolutely love the latest installment of this series. Iris and Kat's shenanigans never fails to crack me up. Iris is such a lovely character with a huge personality. I always love learning new things about her as the series continues, as well as see how she will keep her secret life just that: a secret. Plus, Kat always ends up in hilarious situations no matter how hard she tries to avoid them. I love following the pair and their antics.

It's always interesting to learn more about the other characters who live in town as well. It's fun meeting new characters and seeing how they interact with existing ones as well as finding out new tidbits about everyone and watching how it continues to build the world as well as adding to the plot of each book. It really makes for such a entertaining series with characters that would be fun to become friends with. Plus, each installment unravels bits and pieces about everyone's past. It's such a feel good series that I always enjoy coming back to. I would honestly love to see this series become a television show one day. There isn't a single thing that wouldn't play out well on screen.

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill

My Rating: ★★★★★

I absolutely love this book. It's such a great graphic novel that not only covers two princesses who fall in love, but also tackles some important topics. We have Amira, who is carving her own path despite society's expectations of her, which also assumes that she doesn't have a care in the world. We have Sadie, who has been trapped in a tower by her sister who is verbally abusive and demeans her. We have Vladric, who succumbs his family's expectations based on his gender and finds himself stressed out and stuck in a tree. Together these characters overcome their road blocks and empower themselves.

It's perfect for children because it takes these important messages and delivers them in a fun, entertaining, and understanding way for them. Amira has dreams of becoming a hero, so she sets out to become a hero. Sadie has had her self-esteem torn to shreds by her sister who tells her she's fat, ugly, and stupid. She overcomes her fears and her sister with the help of her friends. Vladric things he has to be extremely masculine and defeat trolls and ogres, but discovers that he doesn't have to change himself and discovers not to judge people based on how they look. Plus, Amira and Sadie fall in love during their adventures together and the story points out that there's nothing wrong with that. It's such a great book that delivers important messages in a cute and funny tale. I hope that more books like this start to become more prevalent, and I am looking forward to checking out more of Katie O'Neill's work.

Being Human by Patricia Lynne

Being Human by Patricia Lynne

My Rating: ★★★★

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Vampires have been outed, and people fear them more than the legends that have given them a bad reputation. One day, Tommy is lured out of his home and turned by a vampire. As his human emotions and memories quickly leave him, something unusual happens: he has a strong emotional response to his twin brother. He's determined to keep Danny safe and remain close to him even though he can't remember anything about their human life together. His instinct to survive is quickly combined with his instinct to protect his brother, which creates unusual circumstances in a society where vampires are hunted and killed without a second thought.

This is unlike any other vampire novel that I've read before. Instead of following Tommy quickly involve himself in the vampire world, we watch him connect with his brother. Vampires are solo creatures in this book, and they don't get along with humans. They're either eating them or avoiding them, and Tommy is glued to his brother every night. It's a family tale as Tommy and Danny have their brotherly bond tested by society and even family over and over again. I love novels that explore family bonds, so it's really exciting to watch these brothers grow closer and sometimes struggle with their relationship through each phase of their lives.

Lynne tells this story in sections. There's minor time jumps between each section covering Tommy's early vampire life when he and Danny are teenagers, their struggles when Danny reaches college, acceptance as Tommy begins a family, and how history starts to repeat itself once again as Danny continues to age. I really enjoyed watching these two characters bond, test the waters with other people, and keep their connection through every big change in Danny's human life. I often wondered if society's view on vampires would change and if Tommy would ever be accepted by outsiders.

Told through Tommy's perspective, we see everything through his eyes. We feel for him and the characters around him as he struggles to make connections and not hurt his family. It was neat to see him interact with other vampires from time to time. The only thing I didn't care for is the romance that occurs later in the book. It seemed out of place and just strange. Otherwise, it's a wonderful book and I hope to see this character again if Lynne is later inspired to continue the story from a different perspective.