Blood Ties by Jennifer Armintrout

Blood Ties Series
Book 1: The Turning
Book 2: Possession
Book 3: Ashes to Ashes
Book 4: All Souls’ Night
By Jennifer Armintrout

I stumbled upon this series in the strangest (and now that I've read them all, most disturbing) way. A friend of mine who happens to have a young teenage daughter recommended The Turning to me. Her daughter had read the entire series and seemed to really enjoy it, couldn't stop talking about it in fact. At first I balked at the suggestion because at the time I was very set in my Anne Rice world of vampires and was not interested in venturing beyond or outside of her rules. But, as usual, there came a time where I was starving for something new to read so I stole my friend’s kid’s copy and read it in a few hours. I loved it! What disturbed me about the recommendation is that there is a lot of violence and sex (and sometimes violent sex) in these books and although I’m not a fan of censorship, I cringed at the thought of a young teen having read this. But as it turns out, this series is quite popular among young teens, and they can handle it, so I should just get over it. (Or at least this is what I was told by my friend’s kid.)
In any case, all four of the books were very exciting and kept me glued to the pages until I was finished. Armintrout puts together a very believable world of vampires, werewolves and witches and creates a war like scenario that the humans seem to be oblivious to. Her plot, world, mythology and characters are not difficult to understand, follow or fall in love with. I do have to admit though that when I got to the end of Book 1 I threw the book across the room…I literally did! Out of frustration, of course, because Armintrout broke the rules! She didn't end the book with a happy ending…things are left in the air, a relationship is not mended and much is left to be tied up. I was quite angry and thought that it was a very clever marketing ploy…leave them hanging so that they buy the next book! Well, it worked. I ran out that day and picked up Book 2 and read it just as quickly. Her daring approach to writing and ending her novels also extends to some of her scenes involving intimate relations among the characters. She writes a homosexual love scene in a very appealing, erotic and tasteful way. I admire her bravery as a writer and look forward to her next novel.
The series ends well, with all loose ends tied up into a very nice bow. I hope to see some of the characters again in their own novels, which I think Armintrout has hinted at in her blogs. A strange recommendation and yet one of the best series of books that I've read in quite a while.



Review by Angela Minchella

David Wellington's 99 Coffins

99 Coffins
By David Wellington

Now just so you all understand, this is a sequel and I did not read the first book in the series. This book was recommended to me, handed to me in fact, without the information of it being the second book of a series. While I was reading it I kept thinking, is this sequel because there seems to be a heck of a lot of back story that is being mentioned but not explained. That being said, at no point was I confused or did the plot rely on that back story, so all was good. I did enjoy this novel quite a lot but I have to warn you, it is gruesome throughout. The vampires are not the sophisticated, aristocratic, gorgeous beings that every women swoons over. No, these vampires are monsters. Scary, gross, blood sucking monsters. The detail is explicit. In one scene a vampire rips the arm off of a victim and proceeds to suck the blood from the limb. It’s really graphic, really gross and very entertaining. I like being scared and it’s not often that I get stressed out while I’m reading but those scenes really freaked me out! The protagonist is a kick ass heroine, which I love to see. I guess now-a-days it would fall into the realm of urban fantasy. The vampires are housed and lying dormant in an underground cavern and are resurrected after being discovered by an archeological team. There is an interesting link to Gettysburg and the civil war. A very unique take on the gruesome historical past. The ensuing battle takes place in the town, involves the military, police and our heroine Laura Caxton. It’s a pretty spectacular climax.
The ending ties up loose ends as well as leaves the reader with a hint of more to come. I liked it. It would make a great movie.



Review by Angela Minchella

The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley
By Patricia Highsmith


This is a great book, which is full of suspense and mystery. It’s dark and violent at times and gives a very unique narrative point of view from the perspective of a psychopath. By the end of the novel, even though you’re not supposed to, you find yourself anxious for Tom Ripley, hoping that he escapes and gets away with all of his evil deeds. You feel like he’s totally justified in the actions that he takes, even though he has proven himself to be an unstable, psychotic individual!

I really enjoyed reading this novel. It’s relatively short and didn’t take me long to whip through, maybe about five hours in total. It was quite the page turner.

I’d have to say that it is probably not appropriate for younger audiences. The violence in the forms of action and thought can seem gruesome at times. There is sexual innuendo as well that would make me uncomfortable to have young teens reading, especially without a parent’s consent. Older readers, Grades 11 and 12 could handle it, I think, and would probably find it very interesting to explore.

Review by Angela Minchella

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten
By Kelley Armstrong

I know that this book came out a while ago but it is the first in Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series so I thought it deserved a review. I just recently reread it for the third or fourth time, I seriously have lost count, and would have to say that it is one of the best debut paranormal novels I have ever read and reread. It was recommended to me by a colleague that I would never have suspected would have read paranormal anything so I was hesitant at first. I wasn’t into werewolves; I didn’t see how they could be sexy or cool. I was a devoted vampire gal; Anne Rice all the way. But I finally gave in and I’m certainly glad I did; after about ten pages I was hooked. Not only does it take place in Toronto, Canada, a place that I am familiar with but I really liked the heroine, Elena, right off the bat. She’s a kick ass heroine and the only female werewolf in existence, so cool, and yes, very sexy!
Armstrong does a great job with making her characters real; every time I read one of her novels I feel like I’m returning to some old friends. (That might make me weird but as an aspiring author myself I would take it as a compliment if someone said my characters were their friends.) The plot is addictive; I could hardly put it down. (And yes, that is still the case every time I reread it.)
My only criticism is related to the sex scenes…too many…at odd times, once or twice slowing the action down, if you would believe it. Otherwise, I really bought into the story line and was thrilled that there was another two books already out for me to read once I had finished with Bitten. Armstrong has reinvented the paranormal genre, reviving the mythology and adding new life in a really cool way.




Review by Angela Minchella

D.B. Reynolds' Raphael

Raphael
Vampires in America Book 1
By D.B. Reynolds

Raphael fell victim to my ravenous hunger for books…I ate it up in a matter of days and I’m hungry for more! I loved this urban fantasy! It’s been a week since I put it down and I can’t get my mind off of the characters. They had such depth and I’m really attached. (Good thing there’s a sequel coming out…Jabril to be released…) I might just have to read Raphael again in the meantime.
Cynthia Leighton, a former cop turned private investigator, is a kick butt girl with a hard, take no crap attitude. She is confident and yet vulnerable. She can take care of herself and knows what she wants but she also has a soft side and a deep secretive need for romantic fulfillment, only not at the cost of losing herself. I loved that about Cynthia, she wants the partner but not the sacrifice of losing her self respect. And then there is Lord Raphael who is powerful and handsome, erotically arrogant, and a perfect doppelganger to Cynthia. He is her other half even if she doesn’t understand or see it until it is almost too late.
This novel is filled with hot intimacy, an exciting plot with lots of action. The tension level is so high at times that it is impossible to put the book down. As well Reynolds builds a believable world of vampires living among the humans in a co-existence that seems to benefit both. The mythology that Reynolds has created is an echo of the traditional role and abilities of the vampire while at the same time having many new components that modernize and evolve the species further. There isn’t an overly complicated back-story but there is a history that is important in moving the plot forward. No boring details or over description in this book.
If you haven’t figured it out yet I’ll be blunt: you need to buy Raphael because it is a fantastic book, well worth the money and totally worth your time. Get reading!




Review by Angela Minchella

Twilight

Twilight
By Stephanie Meyer

Great book. Fast read. Exciting love story. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Edward and Bella are the new Romeo and Juliet, except without the suicide at the end. I liked reading this book. It was fun and easy; a nice weekend read that I didn’t really want to put down. It was actually recommended to me by several of my students and if a student is excited about reading something, I’m excited too!
I’ve found that all of my students, girls, boys, Grade 9 through 12 enjoy the novel if they pick it up. What’s great about it is that for once there is a female protagonist of interest that all of my students seem to like and want to read more about.
Although there is some sexual suggestion, it is very tame and given Meyer’s religious background, very rooted in a strong moral code that comes through in her characters. It’s a safe read, nothing too racy, just a little bit of violence at the end.
If you’re a feminist, the book is a great source for debating Edwards control and power over Bella and examining the role model or role of the heroine in modern young adult fiction. I know there’s been some heavy debate in the world of feminist critique regarding this novel.
For what it is, it is a great book. We’re not talking literature here, just a fun read for all.

Review by Angela Minchella

Warriors Into the Wild

Book review of Warriors Into the Wild
By Erin Hunter

First off, this is a young adult novel. A very young adult novel about cats. Now, I am a cat lover; I do have cats but it has never been at the top of my list of reading choices to pick up a young adult novel about cats that talk. A well meaning friend bought this for me and then kept asking if I had read it or not so I felt obligated. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t amazing either. It is a classic hero story where a young kitten (Firepaw) joins a feral cat tribe and comes out as the hero, fulfilling a prophesy and overcoming the many difficult challenges he faces. It didn’t take me long to read, as I’m sure you can imagine, it was quite short. I did get a little confused with all of the many cat names being thrown around: Twolegs, Brokenstar, Whitestorm, etc. But I wasn’t that committed to the novel in the first place so I didn’t really try very hard to sort them all out. I was also a little surprised by the violence, but I guess wild cats can be quite violent and there’s no point in censoring that aspect of a feral cat’s life. Hunter does craft a pretty realistic mythology for the various cat tribes that does make sense with the reality of territory wars and whatnot among wild cats. Trust me, I know this first hand, I have a territory boundary in my backyard. The resident cats do not like intruders.
I’ve been told that this is a very popular series in the preteen world. I can’t really imagine how. I thought Warriors Into The Wild was a bit cheesy. I guess I’m just not a fan of talking cats!



Review by Angela Minchella