Thursday 30 October 2014

Shadow of the Wolf - Tim Hall

Shadow of the Wolf

A world of gods and monsters. An elemental power, rising. This is Robin Hood, reborn, as he has never been seen before… 
Robin Loxley is seven years old when his parents disappear without trace. Years later the great love of his life, Marian, is also taken from him. Driven by these mysteries, and this anguish, Robin follows a darkening path into the ancient heart of Sherwood Forest. What he encounters there will leave him transformed, and will alter forever the legend of Robin Hood.

First, I have to take a moment to talk about how beautiful the book cover is. I bought this on my Kindle, but I want to buy the hard copy, just for the amazing cover.

This is a book which is hard to put into a category.  I will call it a historical supernatural fantasy OR high fantasy. It follows a boy - Robin Loxley - over a series of about 8-10 yrs of his life. I am not sure about how much time has lapsed in this book, so that is an estimate. The other main Protagonist is Marian Delbosque. She is a hard girl to like in my opinion. 

The supernatural elements in this book were very unique. I have not read anything like it. I do feel as though they were a little confusing, and we do not fully know what the special power is. I hope that this will be straightened out in the next book. 

Like most YA fantasy book that I have read, there is one main enemy figure, but there are also others which are evil and cruel. The Sheriff was the main enemy and he really is evil and twisted. This, again, i hope will be taken further in the next book because there is so much more that can be done with this character and there is so much that is unknown about him. Edric, if The Sheriff is evil, this guy is truly psychotic. I loved the way this character was portrayed. It was just right. I sometimes find that characters like Edric are over dramatised, but here it was not. 

The writing in this book was second to none. I had never read anything by Tim Hall, so I didn't know what to expect and I LOVED THIS BOOK. Definitely one of my favourite YA books of all time. Please read it. 

5/5 stars.

P.S. If you do not like cliffhangers, do not read this book. It is not a WHAT ON EARTH type of cliffhanger, but it is still there.

Friday 24 October 2014

Stone Cold Touch (Dark Elements Series 2) - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements, #2)

Every touch has its price


Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…

This book was one of my most anticipated books of October and it did not disappoint. I read it in one sitting (which is not unusual when I am reading a JLA book).

If you have not read the first one, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? If you do not want to read any spoilers for the 2nd book, do not read any further. Just know that I give this book and the series so far 5/5 stars.

The book starts a few weeks after the whole bruhaha in the school gym. Roth has gone and Layla is left with only a necklace, Bambi (who is my favourite character out of the whole book) and a broken heart. We find out, pretty early on in the book, that, dun dun duun, a Lilin had been born, and this book is about finding this creature.

I have to be honest and say that I fell for the trap. I, and most probably you too, thought that we knew who the Lilin was. 

The writing in this book is very similar to JLA's other books. The female characters are awesome and the male characters are obnoxious and totally swoon worthy. I did feel the need to punch Roth a couple of times throughout the book and Layla too. I was like get your ish together already.

I have to spend a little time talking about Bambi. That snake is amazing. The scenes with Bambi made me laugh and I ended up loving her more near the end of the book.

Abbot... needs to die. Me and my friends, when watching shows like TVD or The Originals, say that characters need to die when they are evil or try killing our favourite characters. I believe that he is evil. Not in the sense that he is a murderer and psychopath, but I hate him. I am sure many of you feel the same way.

The ending. WHAT THE HELL. If you have read The Lux series, you will know the pain of a JLA cliffhanger. Nothing will beat the end of Opal for me, in the worst cliffhanger ever, but this came close. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Please... ( pouty face).

I highly recommend this book and cannot sing its praises enough. 5/5 stars.