Buy Silver and Stone on Amazon

Welcome to high school high society hell.

As if senior year at Weatherford Preparatory School wasn’t hard enough, sixteen year old Alexis Bardolph had to add school outcast to the curriculum.

A new found notoriety following a family scandal, her lacrosse star boy-friend dumping her for a former BFF and a string of perpetually bad hair days were among the many things going wrong in her already turbulent teenage life.

But when the haunting nightmares that have plagued her since childhood begin to take an eerily tangible form and several Holler Creek residents are reported missing, Alexis can’t help but wonder if there isn’t more to her hellish dreams than meets the eye.

The unexpected arrival of a mysterious and dangerously handsome new student ultimately leads Alexis to troubling truths that not even her wildest imagination could have conjured.

Meet Alexis. She’s a teenage girl with a helluva lot of issues: her younger sister hates her guts, her father is a workaholic, she’s the outcast of her high school… and, oh yeah, she killed her mother (accidentally). Oops.

Meet Lucas. He’s the tall, dark and handsome new kid who decides to ignore Alexis’s questionable past and get to know her. But it’s hard to balance a relationship with disapproving parents and a boatload of secrets.

Meet the first installment of the Bloodlines series. Full of mysterious twists and turns, creepy hallucinations in blood-stained white dresses, and an ending that is exciting and completely unforeseeable, it will have you hooked from the first chapter.

Before I get to the praise, I’m going to talk about the few negatives, just to get them out of the way.

Lucas and Alexis fell in love way to quickly. I felt like one second they were meeting each other, the next they were kissing passionately, and the next they were whispering ‘I love you’ s under the stars. Their sudden attraction is explained during the last bit of the book, but their relationship really bothered me for a while. Well, maybe that’s because Alexis’s whole life was focused solely on that: their relationship. As soon as Lucas came into the picture, he was all Alexis could think about. I understand that he brought her out of her Oops-I-killed-my-mother depression, but Alexis’s obsession with him is kind of overdone.

At some point during their hot relationship, Alexis and Lucas have a… fight. This really upset me. After claiming that they love each other, I was very bothered by what Lucas said to Alexis. It reminds me of when Edward left Bella in New Moon, which placed me permanently on Team Jacob. If Edward had really loved Bella, he would never have left. Same goes for Lucas and Alexis. After reading the ending of Silver and Stone and discovering why Lucas did what he did, I don’t question his love for Alexis, but I thought that this fight was an inconsistency.

Also, it infuriated me that although Alexis’s sister was going through a horrible time as well, Alexis completely forgot about her after a couple of chapters. Sure, Madison hated her older sister’s guts, but… she killed her mother! Did Alexis really expect her to forget about it and volunteer to do Alexis’s chores? I understand that Madison messed some things up for Alexis, but it sounded to me like Madison really needed some TLC. It doesn’t matter if she wanted to freaking hit me on the head with a frying pan, if my sister went from cheerleader to goth over the course of one summer, I would be banging on her door and asking some questions. Or screaming them. Whatever works, really.

Anyway, I’m going to stop complaining now and start gushing dramatically.

I love that Lucas is such a nice guy! He’s not the typical YA bad boy, but an actual smart male character. I’ve read so many teenage books littered with hot cocky assholes, and I am proud to say that Silver and Stone is not one of them. Lucas is hot, what with his chiseled features and sculpted abbs, but he’s a Greek mythology lover and spouts Shakespeare. He takes nerdy classes and talks about the composition of stars. He’s not just some pretty face. Now that, ladies, is swoon-worthy.

Alexis has bad dreams. Okay, try horrible dreams. Horrible, horrible dreams involving her death murder.  She’s been having these dreams since she was a child, and she doesn’t think much of them anymore. But paired with hallucinations of a beautiful woman dying a terrible, bloody, death, and the telling of a morbid little history by the owner of a costume shop, these nightmares amount to nothing less than a mystery. Very well thought out, creepy and riveting, this mystery composes a wonderful plot that leads to an action-packed ending.

Don’t even get me started on the ending! The action scenes were well written, and the part that Lucas played was unexpected and lovely. And we finally discover who–what– in the world Alexis really is! I never saw that coming at all! We finally realize what silver and stone have to do with everything and we find out why Alexis and Lucas’s relationship has such serious depth and magnetic attraction. The ending is also jam-packed with mythological history and world-building, which I loved. Especially the past of Alexis’s boodline.

I’m hoping for more answers in the second book of the series, Blood and Champagne, and can’t wait to read it. Silver and Stone merits 3.5/5 stars, and I recommend for lovers of smart guys and paranormal romance.

I’ll keep you posted,

Buy Daughter of Smoke and Bone on Amazon

AROUND THE WORLD, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth has grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

MEET KAROU. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands;” she speaks many languages — not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers — beautiful, haunted Akiva — fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

This. Book. Is. Friggin’. Amazing. Where can I even begin to start this review? I guess that I’ll try to make this as simple as possible: I LOVE IT!!! IT IS SPECTACULAR!!! 5 STARS! Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of the best YA books that I have ever read.

This is one of those books that you can’t even begin to describe. Anything I say could not possibly measure up to the wonder of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Basically, all you need to know is that you should read it. Right now. Stop reading this review, drive to the nearest bookstore, and buy this book. It is beyond worth it.

Karou doesn’t know who she is. Her hair is naturally blue, her body is riddled with scars and tattoos, some of which she thinks she was born with, and she grew up living with four monsters. Brimstone, who is supposedly the devil himself, was the closest thing to a father Karou has ever had, and Issa has a human head and torso and is snake from the waist down. Every once in a while the back door to Brimstone’s shop will be knocked on, and Karou will be forced into a closed off room. The front door of Brimstone’s shop, however, can only be opened from within. It leads to any and every city on Earth. It is through this door that humans enter the shop to trade teeth–animal or human– for wishes. Brimstone is also called the Wishmonger, because that’s what he deals in: wishes. However, the core of Daughter of Smoke and Bone is quite clear: hope is the wish.

The world building is utterly captivating. Brimstone and his crew and shop are the essence of that childhood dream about the world of monsters that you never completely imagined. But behind this dream lies a mysterious secret: the teeth. What in all the devils does Brimstone need teeth for? The queerness of the teeth necklaces is the best part of the world building; it’s strange, and sort of gross, really, but you embrace it wholeheartedly because it fits into Brimstone’s shop. It fits with Issa’s pet serpents, the fire roaring as the foursome of monsters chit-chat quietly, and the magical doorway that could lead you anywhere.

And then there’s Prague, one of the worlds on the outside of Brimstone’s doorway. This is where Karou lives. It’s beautiful and whimsical and dark, like a black castle with dozens of turrets. I love it. I blame you, Laini Taylor, for my bypassing my usual bought lunch in order to save for my ever-extending trip to Europe.

Do you remember those fairytales that you used to read as a child? Not the stupid rainbows and kittens of fairytales (*cough*Cinderella*cough*), but the good kind. The Grimm kind. The kind with dozens of unexpected twists, imperfect perfections, morbid innuendo and, perhaps, a not-so-happy ending. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of these fairytales. It is written poetically and beautifully:

It is a condition of monsters that they do not perceive themselves as such. The dragon, you know, hunkered in the village devouring maidens, heard the townsfolk cry ‘Monster!’ and looked behind him.

It was all but naked, a bloated torso with reedy arms wrapped tight around the human’s neck. Useless legs dangled behind, and its head was swollen taut and purple, as if it were engorged with blood and ready to pop in a great, wet burst.

Here and there, feathers fell, and they were like tufts of white fire, disintegrating to ash as soon as they touched the ground. In Delhi, a Sister of Mercy reached out and caught one on her palm like a raindrop, but unlike a raindrop it burned, and left the perfect outline of a feather seared into her flesh.
“Angel,” she whispered, relishing in the pain.
She was not exactly wrong.

Moving onto the characters: Karou is one of those strong, kick-crack heroines. She does what she thinks is right, no matter the circumstances, and defends herself with ease. Akiva is more complicated. He sort of switches from the bad guys’ team to the good guys’ team and back again, but in the end, I believe that he chooses right.
That’s one of the best parts of this book: you can’t always tell the good guys from the bad guys. The angels have fought against the devils for centuries, but as a reader, you are exposed to both sides of the story. That’s part of what makes this story so real: amid the clash of monsters versus angels, because both sides of the story are still somewhat innocent, there is hope. But there is not peace.

At one point, Daughter of Smoke and Bone doesn’t focus on Karou anymore, but somebody else. It becomes a story within a story, a novella with a novel, and it adds depth to the plot. I loved it.

I love it.

If I could sum up my feelings toward this book in one word: love. 5 stars. I’m a picky reader, but… 5 stars!!!

I’ll keep you posted,

Interviews with authors of Silver and Stone and The Dig, J.D. Thompson, and Audrey Hart! Yay! J.D. and Audrey are also furnishing us with giveaways of their books. How exciting! For more details, go to the giveaway page.

Download Horror at Halloween: Part One on Amazon for free

OXRUN STATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENT.

Nobody can really explain it. You just have to understand that bizarre things happen there. They just do. Weird things. The kind of things you don’t even want to dream about in your worst nightmares.

Trick-or-treat is crazy enough, with ghosts and goblins and witches and warlocks and all manner of other horrors roaming the streets. But in Oxrun Station, the masks aren’t always made of rubber.

In his new hometown, British teenager Sam Jones discovers that a legendary backwoods bogeyman has risen from the grave to seek revenge against those who put him there . . .

The fabric of the cosmos is unravelling and dark and dangerous things are leaking across the borders . . . For five unsuspecting teenagers, their lives will never be the same again as they discover the hidden terrors lurking beneath the surface of their quiet town and experience the most horrifying Halloween of them all . . .

This year in Oxrun Station, THE TRICK IS TO STAY ALIVE!

Don’t you just love Halloween? The thrill of fear, the excitement of masks, the fun of pumpkins and candy and ghost stories…

Ghost stories.

What better way to celebrate Halloween than reading a chilling YA mystery that gives you goosebumps? And for free… how could you resist?

After moving from England to the American town of Oxrun Station, Sam starts hearing whispers. And not the kind of whispers that come from a prankster friend… I’m talking about the kind that you hear inside your head.

Sam quickly gets caught up in Oxrun’s ghost story and discovers it has a strange connection to the whispering he hears. With the help of an unlikely person linked to Sam by the same insanity, he finally unravels the creepy mystery of Oxrun Station.

And the mystery was creepy, all right. However, I do have some issues with the other parts of the book.

First of all, the pacing was really lacking. The first bit of this book was very, very boring.  The kind of  why-am-I-even-reading-this-I-have-better-things-to-do boring. At the half-way point, it got better. Things picked up and I found  myself drawn into Sam’s drama. Three quarters of the way through, Oxrun’s mystery completely developed, and my heart started beating faster. Finally.

And then there’s the humour. (This is the part where you say “What humour?”) There are a dozen times when all of Gordon’s characters have cracked up, leaving me sitting there, thinking “Yeah. That wasn’t funny. At all.”  I’ll give you an example:

I thought I must have offended her. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“Sorry?” She was mystified.

“It’s stupid of me to be talking about ghosts when I’ve just arrived.”

“Do you always apologize about everything?” she asked. A hand flew to her mouth. “Have I embarassed you, Sam? I’m so sorry!”

We were both laughing as the car, having crossed the pass, began to slide downhill into Oxrun.

‘Cause that was hilarious…

I also have a serious problem with the characters’ lack of profundity. Penny is pretty, so Sam falls head over heels in love with her. It doesn’t matter that she’s petty, disloyal, or mean. She’s pretty. That’s all. To make matters worse, at least half of this book seems to be centered only on Sam and Penny being together, with absolutely no development of the plot. Luckily for him, Sam redeems himself. Otherwise, he would probably be mauled. Verbally. It would most likely be fatal.

Just saying.

Glyn is my favourite character of Horror at Halloween Part 1. She’s mysterious, literate and strong-willed in a a shy sort of way, albeit an outcast. I admire her for supporting her barely existent family and risking her life to protect them. Although the friendship she and Sam share is an improbable one, I very much enjoyed it.

When Horror at Halloween Part 1‘s  mystery completely presented itself, it morphed into a good read. Reading it, my heart rate picked up, and I became utterly enraptured. It was spooky, action-packed, and fast-pasted, and I enjoyed it. This book would have merited at least 3.5/5 stars had the plot been more centered on the mystery itself.

However, it only deserves 2/5 stars. It was a great ghost story to read for Halloween, and it would be a great ghost story to read anytime of the year. I just wish there was more ghost story and less… everything else.

I’ll keep you posted,



Buy Perfect Chemistry on Amazon

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago, everyone knows that south siders and north siders aren’t exactly compatible elements. So when head cheerleader Brittany Ellis and gang member Alex Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemisrty class, the results are bound to be explosive. But neither teen is prepared for the most surprising chemical reaction of all– love. Can they break through the stereotypes and misconceptions that threaten to keep them apart?

“Miss Ellis?” Mrs. Peterson says. “It’s your turn. Introduce Alex to the class.”

“This is Alejandro Fuentes. When he wasn’t hanging out on the street corners and harassing innocent people this summer, he toured the inside of jails around the city, if you know what I mean. His  secret desire is to go to college and become a chemistry teacher, like you, Mrs. Peterson.”

Brittany flashes me a triumphant smile, thinking she’s won this round. Guess again, gringa.

“This is Brittany Ellis,” I say, all eyes now focused on me. “This summer she went to the mall, bought new clothes so she could expand her wardrobe, and spent her daddy’s money on plastic surgery to enhance her, ahem, assets. Her secret desire is to date a Mexicano before she graduates.”

Game on…

Star-crossed lovers.

Shakespeare’s done it.

Elton John’s done it.

Dream Works has done it.

But Elkeles does it better.

Brittany Ellis is perfect. Alex Funetes is a gangbanger.  Brittany is a spoiled little rich girl. Alex struggles to help his mother put food on the table. Brittany hates Alex. Alex hates Brittany. They both hate chemistry class. So why do they have… chemistry?

When the high school’s princess and the Latino Blood gang member are thrown together by their chemistry teacher, who arranges lab partners alphabetically, things do not go well. They fight and insult each other and judge each other based on their own biases. Their chemistry is far from perfect… but when someone bets Alex his prized motorcycle that he can’t seduce Brittany in a couple of months, Alex makes it perfect.

In his efforts to entice Brittany, Alex unintentionally gets to know her. And the girl he gets to know is a far cry from the perfect princess Brittany pretends to be. The girl he gets to know has an aggressive mother who throws fits whenever things go wrong in the Ellis household. The girl he gets to know’s number one priority isn’t her hair and makeup, it’s her mentally-challenged sister, whom her parents treat like dirt. The girl he gets to know maybe doesn’t want to be perfect anymore.

Brittany quickly unearths the real Alex, too. The real Alex who only joined a gang to protect his family, longs to go to college even though he knows that that future is impossible and far-fetched, and who’s life mission is to give his brothers the future that he could never have.

A relationship between Brittany and Alex is , of course, social suicide. Brittany rejects Alex so many times that I’m surprised he doesn’t give up on her. But when Alex challenges Brittany to get real, she surprises everybody… and gets real.

The thing I love most about Perfect Chemistry is the stereotypes. There’s the Latino hunk who’s in a gang, and the blue-eyed blond-haired princess who’s the captain of the cheerleading team. But the characters are so much more than that! They go beyond the superficiality of the classic bad-boy-meets-good-girl YA plot line. They prove to readers that, sure, high school is about  images and reputations and  living up to them, but it’s also about individuality. Perfect Chemistry challenges the high school scene, and I love that.

I equally enjoyed the rotating points of view. I’m usually not a fan of this, mainly because I prefer reading books that are written in the first person, and if the point of view switches, the book is generally written in the second person. However, Perfect Chemistry switches the point of view from chapter to chapter, Brittany to Alex, in the first person. I like this concept and I can see how it was necessary to Perfect Chemistry‘s plot so you could peek into the thoughts and motives of the two main characters and truly understand them.

This book also contains many Random Acts of Kindness. This surprised me, because usually in YA books, if the characters’ lives are going badly, they are going badly. Authors frequently refuse to admit that the entire world cannot possibly be against one character. But Elkeles does, and the result is very pleasant. I am likewise glad that when Alex and Brittany admit their feelings toward each other to their friends, not all of their friends abandon them. This shows a realistic loyalty and proves that North siders and South siders aren’t all that different.

The plot twist towards the end of Perfect Chemistry had my eyes welling up. I did not predict it at all and could barely believe the circumstances. It’s just so unfair! This was definitively hard to read… but without this scene, this book would have been unrealistic and watered-down. So I thank Simone Elkeles for Perfect Chemistry‘s authenticity.

If the epilogue of this novel were compared to a food, it would be canned cheese. Super corny and cheesy and eye-roll-inducing… but perfect in its own way.

Here’s the book trailer. It had me laughing so hard, I just needed to share it with you guys. It’s Simone Elkeles’s parody of her own book… so funny.

Perfect Chemistry book trailer

All in all, Perfect Chemistry is a must-read. Riveting from the first chapter and a great twist on the classic tale. 4.7/5 stars.

Shout out to Van: You’re right, Alex is sexy. =)

I’ll keep you posted,