Alysses

A different a read by Alexandria House and I wasn't mad at it at all. I liked it a lot! I loved the audiobook production. There are duo voices but those voices don't just stick to their own chapters. They interact/interject in “real time”.

I'm liking the series I just find that at times it rambles. I think the author goes into historical details at the wrong times. It always seems to be when something action packed is about to happen. It slows down the story when at that moment the author should have ran with it. At the same time some of the action packed details are kind of chaotic and you can't really understand or picture what is happening at the moment. All in all I'm glad I'm done with the book and on with the next one.

One word...

Beautiful.



Merged review:

Audio Book

Logan has Shaded, Aura is exploring her feelings for Zachary and Logan while itching to find out more about her conception/origins, Zachary is Zachary... The adults all have secrets to tell and the Department of Metaphysical Purity is getting nastier and scarier.

I had such high hopes after reading the first book Shade. The tone was the same and although I still liked the overall story it went downhill kind of quickly for me. This book focused way too much on Aura's numerous amorous relationships. It also focused a bit too much on her flaring hormones. For such a smart girl all she had her brain on was sex and that to me was a turn off. I think I disliked Zachary most in this book. As sweet as he can be and as considerate as he can be he can equally be a jackass. I did not appreciate his back and forth. Aura lets be together, two minutes later, Aura we maybe need to create some space between us... There was more of this and it just ticked me off and frustrated me beyond belief. Zachary totally made a bonehead move and Aura actually let it slide because she thought he was so hot. I mean seriously?? I sometimes wish some of these ladies were written to be a lot stronger and less tolerant than they are. I get this is fiction but there are a lot of girls reading these books and hopefully they have enough sense to know that kind of behavior/reaction is ridiculous.

I think what saved this for me is that we finally get some answers to some of the mystery created in Shade. We learn what happened at Newgrange the months prior to Aura and Zachary being conceived, more about Aura's mom and dad and finally we understand a bit more about the connection Aura and Zachary share.

I still recommend the series as it is a unique story and I'm hoping Shine, the third installment, will wrap things up nicely and be a lot more balanced than this book.

Full review to come.

Swaying between 3.5 and 4. The above star rating my change later.



SO MUCH GOING ON IN THIS ONE. A bit confusing in the end as I was trying to connect the dots during the final plot twist but it does come full circle.

I just read a few reviews and I had to stop. A lot of people are complaining about certain things not being answered but they were. You just have to remember many many details revealed in other books.

Radley is volunteering in Haiti when the President of the United States has been assassinated and all hell has broken loose. Radley is focused on one thing... getting home to her parents.

I was quite intrigued with the synopsis. I started reading this book and I couldn't put it down. The story is told in three parts symbolizing the three phases of Radley's adventure/story. The first third of the book is fast paced consisting of Radley traveling back into the States to reunite with her parents. My adrenaline was pumping and my anxiety was at about 100 because like Radley, I too wanted to get back to her parents and find out what happened. It was written that well. It does lose a bit of momentum after that initial rush but all in all, the story was engaging, coercing me into turning the pages at rapid speed.

Imagine my surprise when I was left in a confused state of mind upon finishing this book and thinking of a 3.5 rating.

It wasn't difficult to believe in a United States that has been broken. It wasn't difficult to believe that any part of this book could and would happen. What was difficult to believe was that we never learn about the American People's Party, why they took over, why the assassination, and a world of other questions pertaining to a very broken United States happening in real time... The world building was non-existent in this book. These questions were what motivated me to keep on reading because I kept thinking that eventually all these questions would be answered. Perhaps not in part one or even part two but part three? Surely in part three. They were not. Something else that was off; the pictures that were introduced in part two of the book. I think I would have liked them more if they had been placed in the book from the beginning. I know why they were plugged in when they were but they didn't always make sense.

As always I recommend that you read this one and let me know what you think because you might like it more than me. I was expecting more but it just fell short with me.

On to the next one!

ARC was provided by Feiwel & Friends via NetGalley.