Review: Ink by Amanda Sun

Title: Ink.
Series: Paper Gods, #1.
Author: Amanda Sun.
Publication Date: July 5th, 2013.
Publisher: Mira Ink.
Format: Paperback, 384 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:



A MAGIC MIGHTIER THAN ANY SWORD
A DESTINY THAT CAN’T BE DENIED

Katie Greene is lost in the wake of her mum's death. Sent to Japan, she meets gorgeous but aloof artist Tomohiro, whose tough attitude intrigues and scares her. Then things get really strange. When they're near each other, Tomohiro's drawings start to come to life…

Soon the wrong people begin to ask questions, and Katie and Tomohiro must risk everything to protect the truth.

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First off, I would like to start off by saying that I am in LOVE with this cover – it’s absolutely stunning. I love how they’ve only switched the ink drawings around for the UK and US covers, it’s really clever. The entire book is gorgeous from front to back, and inside it also has some beautiful illustrations throughout it. Secondly, Ink was absolutely incredible and so unique – I’ve never read anything like it before! Even though I’m finding it a little bit hard to figure out whether my obsession with Japan and its culture is clouding my judgement slightly with this book – I still love it and quite frankly, I really don’t mind if it is!

Katie Greene is our main protagonist and quite suddenly she finds herself uprooted from her life in America when her mother dies and is sent to live with her Aunt in Japan. Katie has to deal with the anger and grief from her mother’s death and deal with the sudden culture change. I think she’s an incredible character, because she deals with all these things so well! In Ink, we don’t learn much about Katie’s appearance apart from the fact that she has blonde hair and pale skin – I really like this, because I think it gives the individual reader the chance to create her character into pretty much anything they want too. Katie is just overall a funny, kind and fantastic character; I’d personally love to be her friend!

Katie is fascinated by Tomohiro, a boy in her school whose drawings seem to come alive when they’re together. I really loved Tomo, he was such an interesting character – stubborn, funny and would rather push someone he loves away to keep them safe than keep them by him and let them be hurt. I also loved Katie’s and Tomohiro’s relationship, it was lovely and grew steadily and slowly into something beautiful. I really liked the fact that they seemed to be really irritated by each other at first but grew to know each other - their relationship definitely wasn’t insta-love.

As I’m looking over Ink, searching for quotes and finalising my opinions for this review – I couldn’t help but notice how many times Katie used the expressions; ‘my heart stopped’, ‘my heart flipped over’ and ‘my heart was pounding’. As I didn’t seem to notice this whilst reading it, I don’t really think that it’s a flaw, but those phrases, or some other alternate phrase exactly like that were used a hell of a lot. To be perfectly honest I’m just surprised that Katie’s heart didn’t jump out of her chest and land on the table.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Ink, it was a fantastic book! Amanda Sun’s writing is incredible and completely flawless in my opinion. I loved the little extra glossary of Japanese words at the end of the book, I think it gave it that great touch and will help people to understand and translate a lot of the Japanese used frequently throughout the novel. Even though I’m learning Japanese myself, and a lot of the sentences and words used were quite basic, I still found quite a few I didn’t know! I can’t wait to read the sequel to this book - I’m sure it’s going to be just as fantastic - and I can’t wait to see what happens to the characters and where the storyline goes. Amanda Sun is definitely an author to keep an eye on and I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mythological novels or books set in Japan.

Quotes

"They tell you you'll forget how it used to be," he said suddenly, and the sound of his voice startled me. "You'll get used to it, that it's better to move on. They don't realize you can't. You're not the same person anymore." - Page 81.

His fingers wound in my hair, the cloth wrapped around his wrist sliding along my collarbone as he moved. I reached for him, letting my hands trails along his jaw and around his neck, twisting the spikes of his hair flat between my fingers. His feathery bands tickled against my skin as his kisses brushed against my lips, my cheek, the corner of my jaw. He trailed down to my neck. He was fireworks and radiance, glare and tingling frostbite. - Page 192.

"My heart was glass - easy to see through, simple to break." - Page 217.

Review: Light of the Moon by David James

Title: Light of the Moon.
Series: Legend of the Dreamer, #1.
Author: David James.
Publication Date: November 6th, 2012.
Publisher: Create Space.
Format: .pdf eBook, 373 pages.
Source: eARC Provided By Author.
My Rating:



Stars. Fire. Blood. Magic.

One night long ago, a constellation disappeared and fell from the sky in the form of a boy.
Secrets are being kept in the sleepy town of Lakewood Hollow, Colorado. Nothing but pools of blood and dripping words are left where bodies once were, and no one but Calum Wade seems to be worried. Life unfolds in shades of red for Calum, until a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrolls at his school and everything changes. Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons, elemental enchanters, and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars have forever held his destiny, and that the constellations above are much more than what they seem.

As Kate and Calum sink deep into a paranormal war, they realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. But life is not so easy for Calum, and he can feel his heart beat faster whenever Kate is close. Worse, Kate's blood holds a dark secret even more dangerous than the war between the demons and enchanters. Soon the two find that there are worse things than loving someone you shouldn't. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.

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Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life.”

Calum’s family life fell apart when his dad left years ago. Ever since then, his mum broke into pieces and can barely look at him – so Calum has to try and deal with the burning emotion inside him alone. All across the country, people are going missing, being murdered and words are being written across their walls in their own blood. The News crews are calling this person the Bloodletter – and the Bloodletter is getting dangerously close to Calum’s quiet town. One day a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrols at his school and everything changes.

Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars hold his destiny, and that the constellations that he sits and watches at night are much more than he ever knew. Calum and Kate find themselves caught right in the middle of a paranormal war where they find out they’re more than just basic players in the game. They realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.

I wanted to like Light of the Moon, I really did. This book was a frustration in itself for me and personally, it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was not because the novel wasn’t well written, it was written beautifully. However, there were too many things that irritated me and the storyline was a bit confusing and hard to follow a lot of the time. It took me quite a while to finish reading Light of the Moon, mainly because I kept getting frustrated at the book and putting it down after a few pages – but I was determined to finish it.

I want to start off with talking about Calum’s character, although it’s hard to know where to start. I really didn’t like Calum at all; I didn’t think he was actually a very strong male protagonist. To be perfectly honest, I thought he acted and spoke a bit like a girl at times – which isn’t bad – but when you’re trying to create a strong male lead with a destiny to fulfil, I think the character needs to be more headstrong. He just didn’t seem to fit the character profile I had in my mind before reading this book. I’m not saying all male characters should be like this, and Calum did have his good points; he was sweet, kind and cared a lot about his friends. These characteristics are a must for me, and even though I didn’t really like Calum, he definitely fulfilled them.

As for Kate’s character; I didn’t mind her – although she’s definitely not winning my ‘favourite character of the year’ award. Kate is definitely determined, smart, and generally a strong-willed person. I didn’t think she had a whole lot of personality other than that really, and the only times she showed some genuine characteristics were when she was acting snappy and blunt. However, you can also tell how much she cares for her younger sisters and wants them back. It was pretty incredible to see the lengths she would go through to get them back to her safe and sound. Kate was definitely a dark character with an intense past and it was interesting to find out more and more about her damaged past throughout the book.

Light of the Moon is written in the two perspectives of Calum and Kate, swopping between the two every time a chapter ended. I love multiple perspectives in books, because it’s always amazing to read what the other character is thinking and feeling – rather than trying to guess. There were some pretty amazing quotes throughout this book, it’s a shame I can’t list them all. This may not be that interesting to some people, but I do love reading quotes that make me shiver and feel the emotion put into the words.

I didn’t completely hate this book; it had its up points at times and it made me feel connected to the characters on a few rare occasions. Would I recommend this book to other people? Possibly – It’ll depend on the people’s preferences – it’s quite a heavy read in my opinion. However, over all I believe the 3/5 star rating I gave it fits it perfectly – although I am quite disappointed I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I did love David’s writing, even if I didn’t particularly like the story – in the future I’ll definitely want to read more from him.

Quotes

The truth was that I could see the good things in my life, but they were all singed with dark, burnt edges that would never fade. All the good seemed to burn away before I had a chance to keep it. Good and gone.
Fall.
I closed my eyes-
Fall there.
Opened them, and pretended the leaves were stars.
Fall.
And then it did.
A heart-shaped leaf of brilliant red, brighter than all the rest, dropped from the sky like a star through the night, and landed in the exact spot my eyes watched. It was violently red, like blood on the green grass, except for edges that were turned up, brown and curled and dying. - Page 71, 19%.

Beyond the Doors of Judgment was cold darkness, and the icy air of reality made me realize one thing: No matter what, I was a Warrior to the bone. My blood was hot with angry strength. My soul filled with courage. I would not be weak in front of the Elders. I threw Calum’s hand off mine. I couldn’t let myself be close to him, not now. The Order thought strength and courage could not be found in love. - Page 249, 66%.

I shook my head. “This person you are right now, this is who a Warrior should be. Not that girl you were before, the one that was cold as ice and afraid to show me anything. You, Kate, crying right now for someone you just lost? Someone you loved? You look like you could take on the world. Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life. That’s not weakness, Kate. It’s strength.” - Page 276, 73%.

Review: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Affair.
Series: The Arkwell Academy, #1.
Author: Mindee Arnett.
Expected Publication Date: March 5th, 2012.
Publisher: Tor Teen.
Format: Kindle eBook, 386 pages.
Source: NetGalley Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:



Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true. Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

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The Nightmare Affair has to be one of the best novels I’ve read this year! With its fantastic and original plotline to its bold and fascinating characters – The Nightmare Affair is a book I found VERY hard to put down.

Dusty Everhart is a Nightmare – literally. Nightmares live among the other supernatural creatures in the world, such as; fairies, werewolf’s, vampires, sirens, mermaids, demons and more. A Nightmare survives by feeding on people’s dreams, seems pretty simple, right? However, when Dusty is feeding off a boy named Eli, from her old high school - the connection breaks and he wakes to find her sitting on his chest - awkward much? Before the connection is severed, Dusty realises that Eli is dreaming of a murder, and one of her current classmates lies dead in front of her. When returning to Arkwell Academy; a school for the supernatural beings, she finds that the dream has come true – her classmate is dead. Soon after, Dusty finds out why; she’s a dream-seer, and Eli is her seer partner. Dusty and Eli will have to work together through his dreams to gather clues about the murderer before they strike again.

Mindee Arnett’s writing is flawless. She created such an incredible world, taking hold of everyday myths of fairies and witches and transformed them into something completely their own. Mindee also created a whole new mythical being, a Nightmare. There was no stone left unturned when it came to describing the Nightmares, what they do and how they work. I’ve never read anything like this book before.

Dusty has to be one of my favourite characters that I’ve read about as of late. She’s stubborn, smart, witty, funny and kind. All of these characteristics blend seamlessly into Dusty’s personality and make her character very loveable. Although Dusty has only one friend, Selene, and the rest of her classmates in Arkwell Academy dislike her because Nightmare's are dangerous and outcasts – she doesn’t let this get her down. She also has a rocky relationship with her mother, but is very close to her father. I feel that it was a shame we didn’t get to meet Dusty’s father, because I think it would have created the perfect balance.

I loved Eli’s character. He seemed a bit rude towards Dusty at first, but can you blame him? He wakes up in the middle of the night to find a girl sitting on his chest – and is then thrust into a world he didn’t know existed. After he gets over the initial shock, Eli turns out to be such a sweet guy! He’s kind, a great friend and a great guy over all. Even though he’s always been ‘popular’, he hasn’t let it go to his head. He sticks up for the kid being bullied, stands up for Dusty when she needs it and is overall and amazing character that I’d love to meet. He’s cute, too!

Lastly, as for Paul; I liked his character, however, I wasn’t star-struck by him at all the way Dusty was. He seemed like a stand-up guy and is sweet, but I found that he was quite rude and way too forthcoming for my liking. Sure, he’s cute and Dusty goes all fan-girly over him, but he didn’t strike me as a very interesting or amazing with pretty much no depth to his character at all.

I loved how in-depth the world Mindee Arnett wrote about was. There are three types of Magickind in the novel; Naturekind, which involves fairies, sirens and mermaids - Witchkind; including witches, wizards and psychics – and finally, Darkkind; which include, demons, werewolves and of course, Nightmares. A mysterious force called ‘The Will’ prevents the supernatural beings from attacking each other, or using magic to hurt another being. The Will is a strong force, controlled by the rulers of the supernatural world, and keeps the world they know from crumbling apart at the seams. The entire world building was just fantastic and so incredible that I find it hard to put into words.

Overall, The Nightmare Affair was fast pace and action filled; immediately gripping the reader and drawing them into the strange world. The novel was shrouded in mystery and I found it hard to predict what would happen next. All the characters seemed suspicious, as if they had something to hide. The book, although based mainly on mystery and paranormal aspects, had enough romance and romantic complications to tickle my fancy and I loved how it wasn’t the main focus of the storyline. I believe the book truly deserves the 5/5 stars rating and it deserves nothing less. I can’t wait to read more of Mindee Arnett’s writing!

Quotes

I frowned, less than thrilled at the idea of being the government's shiny new gun. "So you're saying I might predict more than just stuff about the killer?"
"Yes. In the past, dream-seers have identified spies, uncovered assassination attempts, all sorts of things." So much for hoping this would be a one-time gig. I bit my lip.
"So we're like the psychic CIA." - Loc 688, 20%.

"You're a Nightmare," Marrow said as if this explained everything. "Your magic works differently from other magickind. You're the exception to The Will's rule. You just never had occasion to discover before now." - Loc 1338, 40%.

My gaze drifted up from the woman's face to the sky, where a huge bird hovered over the people's heads, wings outstretched. Like hearing the opening note of a familiar song on the radio, recognition hummed inside me at the sight of it. - Loc 2474, 74%.