Review: Sheltered by Debra Chapoton

Goodreads description:

Living together unsupervised, five troubled teens confront demonic forces and are compelled to deal with their problems in distinctly different ways. Paranormal meets psycho meets Goth in this story of a supernatural haunting and budding love.

High school junior, Ben, hacks into his step-father's real estate holdings and provides rooms in an old two-story house to various outcasts: the schizophrenic kid, the angry Goth girl, and the homeless girl who worships him. When Megan needs a place to live she comes to the rooming house with a different set of problems and the ability to confuse and attract Ben.

One by one strange and mysterious occurrences stretch the teens’ beliefs in the supernatural. How they deal with demons, real and imagined, has tragic as well as redeeming consequences.

First line:  “Emily knew the precise moment that Ben returned, she felt him in her scars.”

I was actually really disappointed with this book. I was expected a huge thriller. Something creepy from start to end. It was just too unbelievable for me. Sure it’s a paranormal story, but it seemed like the characters would just go on with their normal lives after some freak of nature incident. I couldn’t get into it.

Honestly, if the paranormal was taken out, I might like it more. The characters are people with a lot of problems and I’d like to hear more about their stories without demons and such. Ben is the cute guy who is way too mature for his age; Megan is the teen mom who’s fighting for custody; Emily is the cutter; Cori is the druggie; and Chuck/Adam is the schizophrenic. These teens all end up living together without parental supervision. Without the paranormal, this would have created a really interesting story.

But there is paranormal stuff going on. Mostly demonic possession. By the end of the book I was starting to notice that it was really a religious thing. All the characters who happened to get possessed were those who were weak, without a god, and susceptible to the possessions. The possession scenes were super creepy, but I feel like they could have been incorporated into the book in a better way.

Overall, I probably wouldn’t recommend this, sadly. I had high hopes for this book, but was let down.

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Goodreads description:

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

First line: “‛How far back should I go?’ I asked Adam.”

Asdfghjkl;

Mind. Blown.

The book was sooooooooo good. As a Doctor Who fan, I was kind of scared to start this because of the time traveling. I thought “how are they going to mess this up?” because, well, Julie Cross did change basic time traveling laws. In normal circumstances, I would be upset. Ms. Cross managed to make it work. *claps for Ms. Cross*

Aside from the time traveling, I just felt like the book was real ya know? The relationships, the maturity growth. It wasn’t some fake romance. Jackson really did love Holly. It was obvious. I think they are perfect for each other. And Jackson really developed along the way. He seemed to take Holly for advantage before everything happened, but by the end of the book you can really tell he’s gotten serious about life in general.

Even Jackson’s dad matured as the book progressed. At first, we view him as some jerk of a dad. Which he is. But we learn a bit more why he is that why. By the end of the book, he isn’t much of a jerk. He treats Jackson like the adult he is. He gives Jackson the respect he deserves.

I had more to say about the book, but um… I finished the book a week before I wrote this review. Guess I should’ve written down the points I wanted to talk about, huh? Oops.

So, I’m left with three questions.

1.    What is the legal drinking age in New York? Cuz the characters seem to drink a lot, without any legal barriers whatsoever. Kind of confused me, but okay…

2.    When. Is. The. Sequel. Coming. Out. ???????????

3.    Why haven’t you read this yet????????????????????????????????????

(if you have read this book, what did you think)

WWW Wednesdays (34)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

I'm also Beta reading an *incredible* story for a friend. You'll know more about that when she hears from a publisher :)

Also, for that friend I am reading a book as she writes it. She's sending me each chapter as she finishes them. It's pretty good so far. I'm excited!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I don't even know. Probably:

But my birthday is on Saturday and I'm hoping to get:

If so, that will be read before The Fault in Our Stars.

What are you reading this week?

Review: Cryptic Cravings by Ellen Schreiber

Goodreads description:

The morbidly monotonous Dullsville has finally become the most exciting place on earth now that Raven is madly in love with her hot vampire boyfriend Alexander, and a crew of vampires has taken residence in Dullsville's old mill. Raven discovers Jagger's plan to open a new club, The Crypt, right here in Dullsville. But is it her dream come true, or her worst nightmare? Raven and Alexander have to figure out what the nefarious vampire has in store for Dullsville's teen and vampire population. Can Raven convince Jagger to listen to her plans to make the Crypt the morbidly magnificent dance club it could be? Will it be safe for mortals and vampires alike?

And as Sebastian and Luna's relationship heats up, Raven wonders about her own amorous fate: Will Alexander ever turn her? Does he crave her and does he want to spend eternity together? And what does she really want?

With cryptic secrets and cravings, this eighth installment in the Vampire Kisses series is a romantic and mysterious thrill ride.

First line: “I had to admit it, Dullsville was no longer dull.”

Oh goody goody. This book was so good – I finished it in one day. Yes, the book was short. But I read slowly and normally it would take me a few days to finish those 200 pages. The great thing was that I didn’t feel like I was rushing myself. It was more like one minute I’m on page 1, the next I’m halfway through the book.

Raven…I love this girl. She’s goth. And I mean true goth decked out in black and loves morbid things. If I could pull it off, I would live this lifestyle. She’s not even afraid to get to the bottom of things. She just goes in and gets in down.

The guys in this book? Hot hot hot. While Alexander is cute with Raven, I still think she should be with Trevor. Just saying. Most fans of this series would disagree. But it’s so obvious he loves her and she is obviously attracted to him. Just get together and end the tension already! Yeah, I know that would kill the point of the series. They should still be together….

I liked the additions to this series through this book. Now there’s more excitement right in the center of Dullsville (I still want to know where exactly that is.) and now with that ending, so much more to look forward to. I can’t wait til I’m able to read the next book in the series.

If you like cheesy vampire teen books, this is for you. The comedy is a bit corny, but still enjoyable. I mean, the main thing I don’t like about this series is that I seem to only like the books the first time I read them. This is not a “going to re-read a million times” series. 

WWW Wednesdays (33)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

Review: Settling by Shelley Workinger

Goodreads description:

At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

First line:  “Why rush? I reminded myself, purposely slowing my steps toward the dining hall”

Wooooow. I completely love this series. No joke. I love it’s sense of relatibility. The believable paranormal aspect. Strong characters with great relationships. I love it all.

I love that I can somewhat relate. While the characters have this crazy chromosome defect, they still deal with real teen issues. What I really like is Clio’s attention to music and especially lyrics of the songs. She has a “lyric journal”. If a song means something to her, she will write down the lyrics. I’ve actually thought about doing this since I started this series. Another point I like is the food. Well, the food gets a bit annoying – only because as I’m reading the book, I have a craving for a chocolate covered twinkie. Yet, I don’t have any of those. I finished this book a week ago and I’m still craving twinkies!

I may have said this in my review of book 1, but this series makes me think about a lot of what ifs. What if my chromosomes were altered? What if the government/army was secretly hiding this group of kids who could do crazy things? While highly unlikely, it could still happen. That’s a main reason I love this series – it’s not some far-fetched idea.

The characters are amazing – sometimes almost too amazing. The strength and courage they have is completely respectable. But at times, I feel like they deserve a break. Well, I know they deserve a break. They just don’t take breaks. That’s what makes them strong. They take on all the problems because that’s just who they are. They’re the characters who are there for everyone no matter what. Especially Jack. I love Jack. He’s Clio’s “boyfriend”. I don’t necessarily think he’s the right guy for her but he is a good guy in general.

Should you go read this series? Yes. Absolutely. No doubt about it.