I am a big fan of Wendy Higgins, due to the complete awesomeness of her debut, Sweet Evil. So, I was excited to hear that she had a novella coming out (plus, it helped that it included an excerpt from Sweet Peril!). I thought "Flirting with Maybe" was a good little story. The writing was good and captivating, though it was different than we're used to from Higgins.

This story is told through the perspective of a teenage boy, Ryan, who has a huge crush on a girl two years older than him. I thought Ryan was completely endearing and I really enjoyed reading the story through his eyes. His love interest, Brooke, is also very likeable. We don't get to see inside her head at all, but it's clear that she is a good person, just with some baggage.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I mean, I wouldn't say it's overly unique or super-duper special or anything, but I would recommend it if you are looking for a cute little romantic story to read. Wendy Higgins delivers again! Oh, and once you have read this novella, be sure to check out the epilogue on Wendy Higgins' website!

This is the second novel I've read by this indie author and, I have to say, I am a fan. Ridley House is even better than Jemhart's debut, Sketch of Secrets, so it's clear to see that she is improving as an author. Jemhart is definitely one of the good ones! If you are the type of person that tends to shy away from self-published novels, you needn't shy away from this one. It feels published, if that makes sense.

Ridley House is about a young girl (19 years old), who has a paranormal secret about herself. She doesn't remember anything from the early years of her life. But, as the story progresses, memories begin to come back to her and secrets from her past are revealed. I thought the story was very good. It kept me interested the whole way through. The beginning started out a bit slow, but as I kept reading, I became captivated and wanted to know more.

The main character, Kay, was well-developed. She is old-fashioned in many ways and, therefore, doesn't agree with a lot of modern-day practices. She is a very endearing character and I couldn't help but feel for her on her journey to discovering her past.

Overall, I thought this was a good book and I would recommend it. Any paranormal/mystery lovers would like this one, I think. Just look at the cover -- it's eerie and mysterious, just like the story.

The Watcher started off a bit slow and boring and I was sure that I wasn't going to be very fond of it. However, after continuing to read, I became surprised and delighted at how the story progressed. There were some moments when I didn't want to put the book down and I can now say, after completing it, that I really did enjoy this novel. I thought the story was very well done. Though it didn't have me at the beginning, it made up for it in the end. Very interesting storyline with a creative premise.

The characters were all good. Mia is the main character and narrator of the story. She begins as a very innocent character and doesn't seem all that interesting. But, as we learn more about her and her past, we see that she is, in fact, a very interesting character. Michael is Mia's love interest. He is very mysterious at first and confusing at times, but he is a very likeable character. I couldn't help but feel for him and his story. The romantic story reminded me a bit of the one from Daughter of Smoke & Bone. (You'll see what I mean if you read both books.) Though, I did find the romance in The Watcher to be a bit more realistic and believable (as I didn't care too much for Karou and Akiva's relationship in Daughter of Smoke & Bone); I was definitely into Mia and Michael's relationship.

The writing was good. This novel comes from a debut author, who also happens to be Canadian (!!) -- awesome! I thought Voisin did a really good job with this story and I think she's an author to watch out for. Just a bit of a side note, though: What's with the bold letters replacing italics in novels lately? I've noticed this in a few recent novels lately...seems to be some sort of new trend. I, myself, prefer the italics; I find the bold distracting.

Anywho...overall, I enjoyed this novel. I was captivated (most of the time), the characters were loveable, and the story was well-done. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I have to say that I wasn't all too impressed with this novel. It was okay, but that's as far as I'd go. Having said that, we need to keep in mind that a teenager wrote this book...so that's pretty impressive! However, I do not let things such as age/experience affect my reviews; all books get treated as they are and with no biases. Okay, so the story was good. The story was probably my favourite part of the novel. It is quite creative and unique. It's about a girl named Allai, who doesn't remember much about her past other than a few weak memories. She remembers a boy demon named Drake who tried to kill her after always claiming he would keep her safe. She has constant nightmares about him, until one day he comes back into her life. And saves her life. Then, she has to force herself to trust that what he says is true, because she needs him to keep her safe once again. Together, they embark on a journey with ups and downs and hopefully safety at the end...

I was not a big fan of either Allai or Drake. I found it difficult to connect with either of them, but I do find this often happens for me with third person narration. But, I just don't feel that these characters were very memorable...there was nothing that stood out from them, in my opinion. Allai is a typical damzel in distress throughout the majority of this novel. She is weak and constantly screaming or fainting. Definitely not the tough heroin I like my leading ladies to be. Drake is the tough one. He is Allai's knight in shining armour; he's always coming to Allai's rescue. Both Allai and Drake are likeable enough, I suppose; but, I find myself very much disconnected from them, even while writing this review. I can't even think of interesting things to say about them...

The writing is below average, I would say. It's weak and immature, although it does have it's strong moments. I understand that Rivers is very young and this is her debut novel, so I don't want to go too hard on her. Everyone has to start somewhere. And, believe me, the writing could be a lot worse -- I've definitely read worse. So, Rivers' writing isn't bad per say, but it's not very good either. I also noticed that there were quite a few mistakes in the later half of the novel. I'm not sure what happened there...did the editor get sick of it and started becoming sloppy? I don't know...but there were significantly more in the second half than the first.

Overall, I wasn't too keen on this book. I don't think I'll read the second of the series. But, if you think it sounds up your alley, then please try it out for yourself. It does have quite a few 5 star ratings on Goodreads. Oh, one thing I love is the cover, though! It's awesome!

I thought this was a good science-fiction novel and found it very entertaining. There was a lot of NASA-type jargon, so it felt as though Goyer and Cassutt did a lot of research into this area and, as a result, caused me to feel like I was riding right along with NASA. It didn't feel fake at all; it felt as though the events in this novel could actually happen one day. I found the story exciting -- exploring this near-earth object with the characters was exciting because you don't know what they're going to find. The story is also filled with action. I find that a lot of science-fiction novels don't have very much action, so I enjoyed the fact that this one did. It included alien encounters, people getting injured, and fight scenes.

All the characters were well-developed. They were all believable and easy to sympathize with. The main character, Zack, appears to be very cool-headed and mellow. He doesn't let his temper get in the way and all his decisions seem like they are calculated. But, really, he mainly acts off his gut feelings on the situation at hand. I liked his character.

There were points of this novel that shared similarities with Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, but it's also different. Where Solaris left the reader wondering and things unresolved, Heaven's Shadow resolved the reasons and explained everything to the reader in the end.

Overall, I thought this novel was good. It wasn't great, but I enjoyed it. I did want to read the second book, because I did enjoy this one, but I've heard it's super boring, so now I'm unsure. I thought the premise was a really cool idea and the authors did a good job with the writing. I also heard that there is a movie adaptation coming out eventually, which I'm excited to see when it comes out.

This book definitely caught me by surprise. I was definitely disturbed and turned off by parts of the story, but I couldn't help but love it overall. The story revolves around Naomi -- switching to the perspectives of her parents every so often -- who is kidnapped at the beginning of the story. But, it's not your normal kidnapping. These captors did not intend on taking Naomi at all. It was only by a freak accident that she happened to be there and they thought she might have seen something. The captors end up treating her very well -- other than the fact that she cannot go out into the real world or see her family. And she ultimately falls for one of the men who has held her captive for so long.

I found the story captivating, intense at times, emotional, and disturbing. Naomi is a very passive character, who kind of just goes along with what the captors want her to do. She barely fights it and barely tries to escape. I found her character to be very frustrating most of the time. Where I would have run/fought for my life -- for freedom -- Naomi didn't. However, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

It was an interesting concept for a novel and I found it difficult to grasp at how a person could grow so close to these people who have taken her away from her life. She begins to view them as family and has an intimate relationship with one. I didn't like the relationship between her and Jesse for the majority of the novel. I found it weird and disgusting. But, now, having finished the story, I get it. Even I (an outsider) am on board with the two being in love now. It's weird and it's creepy, but if you read the book, I think you'll be able to see how I was able to get there.

I was confused for the first bit of the novel. I didn't understand the whole kidnapping situation. How long they were planning on keeping her. What their plan was. Why they were treating her the way they were. But, now I think that was the whole point all along. Because Naomi doesn't really understand either. But, it really bugged me. It bothered me more that it bothered Naomi, I think. But, it did keep me turning those pages! And I'm glad it did, as my overall impression of the novel is a positive one. I would recommend this book to any fans of realistic fiction. I thought it was a gooder...I liked it more than I even expected I would.

Okay, so I know that I'm a little late on reading this fantastic book. And there have been so many rave reviews about it already...well, here's another one! First, I want to talk about the writing of Laini Taylor. The first word that comes to my mind when thinking about her writing is: beautiful. Taylor has this certain way of writing, and a uniqueness in the way she writes that makes it wonderful to read her words. Her descriptions are beautiful and wondrous. You know, I've read reviews before where the reviewer used the term "lyrical" to describe an author's writing style and I never truly understood what exactly was meant by that. I thought, how could a book's writing style be lyrical? What does that even mean in a book? But, now I understand. Because Taylor's words are just that, lyrical and beautiful and wondrous to the point that it makes any writer (or anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming a writer) totally and completely jealous.

The story is unique, creative, dark and light, mysterious, and captivating. It's about a girl, named Karou, who does secret work for the man/creature who raised her. She doesn't know who she is; she doesn't even know 100% who/what they -- the people who raised her -- are. One day, she meets an angel named Akiva. This angel is the most beautiful boy she has ever seen and he turns her whole world upside down...but, not necessarily in a good way. The reader is taken through a mysterious journey in order to find out who these characters really are and what exactly happened to make them who they are today.

The characters of Karou and Akiva are lovely characters whom I adore. Oh, and I love their names! Just say them: Karou and Akiva... Aren't they just awesomely awesome names? I think so. Anyway, both Karou and Akiva are very well-developed and interesting and memorable. I loved them both. Karou is strong, yet vulnerable in certain ways. She doesn't know anything about her past, where she came from, or how she came to be raised by these creatures. Akiva is beautiful and mysterious, and he happens to know the secrets to Karou's past...but how long will he wait before revealing them to her?

Now, I loved these characters...but I'm not sure that I really bought the love story between them. It felt too insta-love for me and I just didn't really get it. I actually preferred the past love story to the current one. I'm hoping I will hop on board more with their relationship in the second book (which I also own now, thanks to my wonderful husband!).

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. My favourite part was the writing and my least favourite was the relationship between Karou and Akiva (which is disappointing because I love a good love story). But, it was a very good read. It's also told in third person narration, which I usually don't enjoy as much as this. I found it easier to connect with the main character in this story than most other third person narratives. So, if you are like me and don't normally like third person, I would still recommend this one to you! Oh, I also loved how this novel incorporated a touch of fairytale-like elements within.

Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters.
But angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone.

So, I would definitely recommend this book! To everyone! :) Oh, and I loved this too:

Love is an element . . .
Like air to breathe, earth to stand on.

This was my first time listening to an audiobook! I found it very enjoyable. The narrator, Tara Sands, did a fantastic job and the story was really good too. This story is filled with emotion, real-life issues, coming-of-age-ness, and romance. It starts off really intense, with the main character struggling to fight off a guy who is trying to rape her. Throughout the story, Jacqueline has to live with the consequences of not telling anyone what happened to her that night.

The characters were good. Jacqueline, the main character and narrator, has many issues to deal with early on in the story. She grows a lot throughout the novel and becomes a stronger woman. Lucas, the love interest, is awesome, like many leading men are. He is caring, strong, and Jacqueline's personal hero.

The writing was good. It's a bit hard for me to critique the writing, due to the fact that I was listening to the book and not reading it. But, from what I could tell from listening, the writing was well-done. The audio narration was very good. I was able to get into the story every time I turned it on and it was almost like I was reading it myself at times. The voice definitely doesn't take away from the story whatsoever.

I'm happy to say that my first audiobook experience was enjoyable! Listening to a book when you normally can't read, like when driving to work and getting ready in the morning, is totally awesome! Though I do feel that some of the storyline was predictable and not overly unique, it didn't really matter. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone unsure of which one to try first (like I was). The novel I would recommend to all you New Adult Contemporary Romance lovers out there -- this one is worth it.

Honestly, I thought this short story was a bit of a pointless read. It's a prequel to Don't Turn Around and I would have liked something at least somewhat meaningful to be in it. For example, a back story on Zeke (a character from Don't Turn Around). But, this story was merely about a random kid who is experimented on by the corporation. I mean, it was intense and written well and everything, but just pointless. Developing a character that probably dies and for sure never appears in the novel. But, this story is offered free on Kobo (probably other places as well, I would assume) and it includes the first 3 chapters of Don't Turn Around. So, I suppose if you are unsure if you want to read Don't Turn Around, then you can pick up this freebie and see if you're into it.

This story definitely had a lot of potential and I loved that the author wanted to share a traditional Chinese folk tale with North America. I think that's awesome that he wrote this novel in English -- even though it's not his first language -- just so that he could share China's popular tale with the people of our culture.

Having said that, I felt that the novel, as a whole, fell short of what it could have been. The writing was weak and immature, and a lot of the conversations seemed pretty forced. It's a bit strange to me, because some of the descriptions of Caitlin or the scenery are beautifully described. But, the writing in other areas of the book seem weak and low quality. There are also a whole bunch of mistakes, and I'm talking obvious mistakes (which is understandable for the writer to have made, as English is not his first language; but, the editor should have caught and corrected them).

I am not familiar with this Chinese tale, but it is an interesting story. As I said above, it did have a lot of potential to be a good novel. It begins with a man, a long time ago, finding a beautiful snake, who he says he would love if she were a human. So, this snake magically turns herself into a human and, years and years later, she finds the reincarnation of the man and they fall in love, get married, and have to endure obstacles to stay together.

The characters were kind of likeable, but I didn't find that they were as well developed as I would have liked. There wasn't really anything interesting about Caitlin or Charlie. I think they were pretty forgettable and they probably won't stick with me for long.