Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

View my review of the first book in the series The Body Finder here.

Violet hears echoes – sounds, smells, visions of dead people. They call to her when the person – or thing – has not been put to rest, buried in peace. They are insistent pull towards the corpse one that is also mimicked on the killer. Violet has been haunted by this ability. It has always made her so much different from everyone else. Even her best friend, newly her boyfriend, who has known of her ability for forever. As Violet desperately tries to find a place to belong, maybe with Sarah Priest, an FBI agent who seems to know more than she’s letting on, Jay is preoccupied with the new family who has moved into town. A new family that drives a wedge between Jay and Violet and a family who may or may not be threatening Violet.

The Good: Derting has done it again. Desires of the Dead is such a good read. She keeps you on the edge of your seat practically the whole book. Violet is her sincere and reckless self. And Jay is his funny and super sweet self. Also for all of you wondering the romance is just as good as Body Finder. It is steamy enough to make you sweat and angst-y to keep it interesting. This novel is a great read if you want a semi-quick book with tons of suspense and yummy romance with a tad twist of supernatural.

The Bad: Derting’s books fall under my “feel good” books. I have these books that I could read over and over again. They usually have tons of romance. Some of my books are Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Evermore by Alyson Noel, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, and the Wake Trilogy by Lisa McMann. These are some of the books I will pick up and read my favorite parts, skimming over the boring parts, when I feel down or sad. Now I know this doesn’t sound bad but I’m getting there. What most of these books have in common are a lack of a huge back story and an uber twisty plot. They are usually a little predictable and romance heavily dominates. Desires of the Dead is both. So don’t read this book expecting to be pulled into a heavy conspiracy theory where everyone and their brother is in on it except the main character. Expect a quick read that is predictable and unrealistic at times but is enjoyable none the less. 

Ugly Updates: Desires of the Dead comes out March 15, 2011. And I know it is torture for me to post this and you not to be able to go buy out it right now but this is one your going to want to pre-order and you can do that here via Amazon.  Check out Derting's site to stay up to date on events this spring and to learn more about her. Also Derting updates her blog regularly so be sure to follow her. 

Overall: A-

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October Releases + 100 Followers!

This is a combo post. First, I would like to say THANK YOU!! Thanks to all you amazing followers. I have now reached 100 and that makes me so happy! You guys are the ones who make me continue with this even though I feel super overwhelmed. You guys are amazing!

Second, I am starting a new thing this month. Because of the amount of ARCs I've been reviewing, I wanted to give you guys a heads up to when books come out and then link back to my views. So at the end of every month I will be posting the big releases of the month, in this case October. Some I will have reviewed, others I will not. But feel free to leave any YA books I may have missed or links to your reviews either on your blog or Goodreads too! So no need to be shy... Send your thoughts.

October 1st

• Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce   REVIEW
• Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

October 5th 

• Behemoth (Levithan #2) by Scott Westerfield 
• Bloodthirsty by Flyn Meaney 
• Sugar and Spice: An L.A. Candy Novel by Lauren Conrad
• The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

• Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
• Slayed by Amanda Marrone
• Freefall by Mindi Scott 
• The Eternal Dawn  (Thirst #3) by Christopher Pike

• Her and Me and You by: Lauren Strasnick
• Pure Sin (Privilege #5) by Kate Brian

October 11th 

• Jane by April Lindner 

October 12th 

• Bright Young Thing by Anna Godberson
• Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly 
• Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

• Elixir by Hilary Duff
• The Curse of the Wendigo (The Monstrumologist 2) By: Rick Yancey

October 19th 

• Nightshade by Andrea Cremer 
• Crescendo (Hush, Hush 2) by Becca Fitzpatrick 

October 26th 

• Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods #5) by Melissa de la Cruz
• Another Pan (Another #2) by Daniel & Dina Nayeri
• Ghost Town (Moganville Vampires #9) by Rachel Caine 
• The Emerald Flame (Warrior Princess #3) by Frewin Jones

So again, (1)Link your reviews (You don't need a blog!), (2)Tell me your thoughts if you read/want to read any of these, (3)Comment if I missed any books! 

Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Digger is a thief in a world on the precipice of possible rebellion. After running away from the convent at a young age she learned her gift: stealing things. One night while on a job to steal some letters she and her friend are caught. She gets away. He is not so lucky. On the run from authorities, Digger decides to leave the city and a couple of young teens are there to help her. So she dons the persona of Celyn and works her way into the children of lords. After befriending Merista, the heir to Bryn Shaer, she is invited to become a lady-in-waiting at the mountain fortress. Digger’s instincts tell her that something mysterious is going on. And when she is blackmailed into doing some stealing and snooping, something she does well, she is not prepared for what she finds. In the isolated castle, Digger discover that the guests are keeping secrets. Secrets that could get them killed.

The Good: This book is my new favorite fantasy book. It was so so good. Even through the paranormal phase YA is going through right now I think fantasy will always be my favorite genre. I have loved the kings and castles and magic. Especially the stories where the heroine completely kicks butt, specifically boy/man butt. Star Crossed is one of these stories. Digger is such a curious, witty teenager. I loved how she viewed everything and everyone as something to steal or someone who has secrets. Her sense of intuitiveness was so much fun. Every time I picked up the book I was like, “What the heck is she going to get into now?” The world that Digger lives in is so real, like it really could have existed. It was so intricate that it actually seemed like some thought went in to creating it. And the idea of 7 moons sounded very cool. While the beginning was a bit slow by page 100 it got good and by page 150 I didn’t want to put it down. EVER. I cannot wait for the sequel!

The Bad: With an intricate setting and very detailed back-story it was super confusing. Star Crossed takes place on a completely different world than Earth. There were different islands and countries with different cities in different sections of the countries and paths and waterways. It was like setting over-load. And as much as I loved all the detail the lack of a map made it way too confusing. In addition to the detailed setting, their was a detailed back-story with religions and wars and the relationship between the lords and the king. This thankfully had a reference: the lexicon dictionary at the back of the book. Use It! Unfortunately I didn’t find it till about page 50 and before that I was completely and utterly lost. I gathered that Digger was a thief and that’s about it. So use the dictionary, which does have the names of locations to give you some what of a reference for the setting, and it will be a lot less confusing. Overall by about page 150 I started to remember all the different moons and gods and places and it didn’t draw away from the story any more.

Ugly Updates: Bunce has written another YA book entitled A Curse as Dark as Gold. I will definitely be checking this one out. I cannot find a publication date for the sequel, Liar's Moon but I would assume around Fall 2011. Check of Bunce's site, Facebook, and blog. And Buy Star Crossed via Amazon here. Also Goodreads is giving away a copy of the book. You must have a Goodreads account (It's free though!) Check that out here. Ends November 26, 2010.

Overall: A

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Awakened by Ednah Walters

For Lil, life has always been a little different. Growing up with her gypsy Grandpa she moved constantly and had very few friends. Just recently settled, Lil has just turned 16 and her powers are just beginning to emerge. Believing she has the ability to speak to ghosts, Lil is surprised when a mysterious voice calls inside her head asking for help. When Lil goes out to meet the voice she can’t help but be surprised when the voice is not a ghost by a very hot boy. What she never realized was this boy belongs to a world she has never known, one she is now part of. As Lil is dragged into a world of telepathy and teleporting she must confront everything in her past since most of what she knows is a lie.

Things are a little backwards today because this is a more logical order for this review.

The Bad: I must start with saying this cover is horrible. It’s a boy partially animated. It doesn’t give any hints that it’s a YA book. It is very unattractive. And while most of us don’t judge a book its cover, the cover is what draws us in. To be honest if I saw this in a store I probably wouldn’t even pick it up. Anyway, Awakened also lacked an aura of sophistication. At times I felt I was reading something on Fiction Press. It was polished writing that deserved to be high on the NY Times Bestsellers list. There were also several similarities to Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments. It was barely shorter than the appropriate amount.

The Good: All that being said, I still really enjoyed this book and would still recommend it. It was active and interesting throughout. It didn’t drag on or bore me. All the characters were enhancers of the story. I really like Lil’s Grandpa. He had this whole cool, sophisticated BA attitude and could kick some serious butt. But he was also loving and understanding towards Lil. He was most definitely not your snoring-in-his-recliner, yelling-“WHAAT?!”-every-time-you-utter-a-word kind of grandpa. It was a nice quick read with an interesting back story. And I will be reading the sequel. 

Ugly Updates: Awakened is Walters' first novel and it's out buy it via Amazon and add it to your Goodreads to-read list.  The sequel, Betrayed, does not have a publication date right now. I would assume it will be at least a year, putting  it around Fall 2011. Add Betrayed to your Goodreads list. Also check out Walters' site for amazing information on the world of Awakened. There is really great explinations on the people, mythology behind the story, and much more. You can find Walters' at her Blog, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

Overall: B-

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IMM (7)

In My Mailbox is a meme started at The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.
This week was a good one for me. Here's what I got...(Links to Goodreads)

• Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens + Swag (From the author for my b-day because I'm her facebook friend! Add her here.)
• Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Start Book Tours) Look for review later this week. 
• The Beginner's Guide to Living by  Lia Hills (In Group) 

Here's an up close of the signed book and swag (2 postcards & 2 bookmarks!):

SQUEE!!

What did you get this week? Comment :)

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