Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don't kill him first, that is.

Hey Guys!

Hey guys! Ariadne here.  So I want to apologize.  I know that I said I would be posting reviews of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books, but I got swamped with school and then I got sick.  I have just recently rejoined the internet.  Sad, I know. But I'm going to be posting soon hopefully.
So sorry for not posting anything when I said I would.
Also I wanted to tell you guys that I'm on Wattpad.com.  Check me out if you want to.  I just joined today and posted something.  My username is: AriadneJames97
~Ariadne

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

There is need. And then there is Fate. Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's other half is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her. When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon--and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude--or killing her. When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.
 

Guestpost: Lost in Starlight by Sherry Soule Playlist

LOST IN STARLIGHT PLAYLIST  - #StarlightSaga
Guest Post by Sherry Soule

Today author, Sherry Soule has some exciting news to share with us! She will be publishing a brand new upper YA series: the “Starlight Saga” (paranormal romance with a Sci-Fi concept) with scorching-hot character chemistry and exciting suspense on June 26, 2014.
To help promote this amazing interstellar love story, “LOST IN STARLIGHT,” Sherry is doing this fun promo to share the news with fellow booklovers.
STARLIGHT SAGA SONG LIST

Some of the most ambiguous lyrics take on new meaning when you’re writing a book, even correlating to some of the scenes or giving insight into Hayden and Sloane’s romantic relationship. Sherry has put together just a few of the awesome songs—a collection of her character’s electric tastes in music—mentioned throughout this epic new series in this post. Enjoy!
“Still Into You” by Paramore
“Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons:
“Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas
“Titanium” song by Sia
“I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance
“Stay” song by Thirty Seconds to Mars
“Counting Stars” by OneRepublic
“Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy
“Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri
“Cello Sonata, L 135” by Debussy
While writing LOST IN STARLIGHT, Sherry listened to this amazing track on a loop, “4 Hours of Emotional Music” composed by the talented, Adrian von Ziegler. She found the melody really set the mood to the type of romantic tale that she wanted to write. At its core, LOST IN STARLIGHT is basically a love story about two lonely hearts finding each other and how their star-crossed relationship changes both of their lives.
Listen to his music on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6r5bo_D9QY
We hope that you enjoyed this post. Now go feed your mind and read a book!

VOLUME ONE: Starlight Saga
High school reporter Sloane Masterson knows she has one helluva story when she witnesses hottie Hayden Lancaster bending forks with his mind.
Like any good journalist, Sloane sets out to uncover the truth, even if it includes a little stalking. When the superhuman feats start to pile up and the undeniable heat rises between them, Hayden has no choice but to reveal his secret: he’s an alien hybrid.
They’re as different as night and day—she’s a curvy, purple-haired, horror junkie and he’s a smoking hot, antisocial, brainiac—yet the intense fascination between them refuses to go away. Even at Hayden’s insistence that dating each other is “off limits” and crazy dangerous, their fiery attraction threatens to go supernova.
Now Sloane’s dealing with creepy government agents, über snobby extraterrestrials, and a psycho alien ex-girlfriend out for revenge. After a crash course on the rules of interstellar dating, Sloane must decide if their star-crossed romance is worth risking her own life....

The LOST IN STARLIGHT eBooks can be purchased from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, & iBooks on June 26th.
The paperback edition from Amazon on June 16th 2014.
Eager to read a sneak peek? http://www.wattpad.com/story/14214838-lost-in-starlight-syfy-romance
Places you can visit Sherry Soule:
Official Blog: http://www.sherrysoule.blogspot.com/
Twitter @SherrySoule: http://twitter.com/SherrySoule
Please add LOST IN STARLIGHT to your TBR on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20707942-lost-to-starlight 

The one by Kiera Cass

THE SELECTION changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. Now, only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart…
It’s swoon meets the Hunger Games in the final instalment of THE SELECTION trilogy!
For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.
Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.
The breathtaking finale to THE SELECTION trilogy will make you swoon

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                                                            Rating: 5 of 5 stars
                                                                          Series book: Yes
                                                              Will I read the next book: Yes

When you first think Dorothy from the wizard of Oz, you see this:

Dorothy from this Oz? She's more like a sexed-up, evil Dorothy who, well, needs to die. Lets just be honest. She has no intention of going home and has instead decided to rule and ruin Oz as a Princess. But there's a new girl from Kansas walking the yellow brick road, and she's got pink hair and a major attitude. I loved the book even if it was a little...long(452 pages actually). There are some problems I had with the book, but the positive far out weighs the negative(for once). So get ready for some ranting and some fangirling all in one post.

The Negative:

The main character, Amy Gumm. 

So many things to say. So many problems. In the first few chapters, we find out Amy live in a trailer park with her mother who lives off of pills, alcohol, and bugles. Rough life? Yeah, that was made clear when Amy's mom left her alone to face a tornado. But throughout the first part of the book, she was constantly referencing just how crappy her life was back in Bumf**k, Kansas.
"Just pretend you're going down a waterslide at AquaLand, I told myself. It might have made me feel a little better if I'd ever actually been to AquaLand. My mom had never taken me."

Well, thank you Amy. Please remember that you are in a dark and dangerous Oz right now, you've got bigger problems than your lack of trips to amusement parks as a kid. Seriously. I get it. You wont be clicking your heels together any time soon. 

The fact that when the opportunity arose, she screwed up her chance to kill Dorothy.
She was alone with Dorothy, magic was blocked, all you had to do is walk up behind her and, you know, stabby stabby. Next time, I recommend not saying a sassy phrase about how you're gonna kill her before you kill her. Kind of clues her off that you're about to kill her. 

The Positive:
So one thing I absolutely adored was how dark Oz was. For one thing this was not the scariest thing in the new Oz. There was Dorothy, in all her magic creepiness; then there was the scarecrow, and he liked to experiment on people; and the lion, who fed off fear; and there were so many more creeptastic things. All the main characters in the story were twisted, Wicked became Good, Good became Wicked, and the line got blurred between the two. Dorothy Must Die was also incredibly violent and gruesome. At one point I actually winced from the violence. So fair warning on that.

And then there was Nox.
Wizard boy with a sad past(thanks to Dorothy) who fought for the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and also had a thing for Amy. It didn't go anywhere really, but they had an undeniable connection and he kissed her (ooohhh). He seemed a little hot and cold, or just cold really, but I think in the next few books things are really gonna heat up. 

And then there was Amy's kick-ass transformation.
"Forgiveness can get you places, I guess. But sometimes you need to light a fire"From trailer trash with a rat on her shoulder to pink-haired bad-ass with a magic knife in a few hundred pages. At first I thought that I wouldn't be able to handle this book just because of how much Amy was making references to her crappy life back home, but she grew as the story went along and personally, I value good character development in a book since it  happens so rarely.

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends. They're a pack. They are Virals.






-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                                 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

                                                                 Series book: Yes

                                                       Will I read the next book: Maybe
Let's get something straight. I have quite a few.. problems with this book. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good. I'm just really picky, and there are a few things that irritate the bleep out of me. But I wouldn't even be posting a review if wasn't good, I would have quit halfway through. And this is a big book, I had plenty of opportunities. That being said, Virals is a great book. And Cooper(the wolfdog) is adorable. I've always wanted a wolf.

Two things that pissed me off about this book. Did you see that? Did it look like I was starting to list something and does it sound wrong because I didn't? That's problem number one. Sentences or phrases that looked like they were missing the first few words. Wrong and annoying to do that, isn't it? You end up adding words in your head. You should be there on the paper. Okay, mini-rant over. The second not so bad thing that still got on my nerves was the usage of slang. Not just regular slang (If there is such a thing). At least in my world. Words like "wicked" and "yo" are no longer groovy anymore. To be fair, they weren't used that much, and those who used them were the main characters and they were supposed to be really nerdy....maybe they didn't know any better? 

I'm done being negative, promise. There were good parts of Virals. The most important being plot. A plot like this could have gone horribly wrong. Four teenagers break into a secret lab and rescue a puppy with a deadly disease. Then the start to change. The possibilities of that could have been... disastrous. But, thankfully, Virals did not turn into a trashy werewolf book. All of the reasoning for their change was purely scientific. Purely scientific mumbo-jumbo I will not pretend to understand. Something about viruses. And dogs. Overall, it was a well-written and captivating story-line. One other thing I liked about this book was how the characters were well developed but still have room to develop more. I'm looking forward to more development and more depth in the next few books. 

I really want to give this book four stars, but I can't. Every time I type in a four, I cringe a little and can't bring myself to leave it there. Those few things that annoyed the bleep out of me. Stops me every time. But, Virals is still worth the read. It's a good book for someone who just finished a really serious book and doesn't want another super serious read, but also doesn't want a whole lot of fluff. Virals is a big book, but it's worth the time.