Book Review - The Future of Us

The Future of Us
Author: Jay Asher, Carolyn Mackler
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 16th October 2012
Publishers: Razorbill
No. Pages: 365
Source: Gifted
Rating:

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything.

Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Book Review - Spirit Bound

Spirit Bound
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #5
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 18th May 2010
Publishers: Razorbill (Penguin)
No. Pages: 481
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong..

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's - and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true - Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. Only this time, he won’t rest until Rose joins him.. forever.

Book Review - Blood Promise

Blood Promise
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #4
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 4th February 2010
Publishers: Razorbill (Penguin)
No. Pages: 322
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same. The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters.. Dimitri Belikov.

Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa - her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess - or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake - and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend - can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

Book Review - Shadow Kiss

Shadow Kiss
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #3
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 26 May 2009
Publishers: Razorbill (Penguin)
No. Pages: 464
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all.. might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose's forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line - and choose between the two people she loves most.

Book Review - Frostbite

Frostbite
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #2
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 1st September 2009
Publishers: Razorbill (Penguin)
No. Pages: 322
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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It’s winter break at St Vladimir’s, and a massive Strigoi vampire attack has put the school on high alert. This year’s trip away from the academy to the wintery peaks of Idaho has suddenly become mandatory.

But Rose’s troubles seem to follow her wherever she goes - dealing with the pain of knowing that her relationship with her tutor Dimitri can never be, things get even more complicated when one her closest friends admits his feelings for her.

The glittering winter landscape may create the illusion of safety but Rose - and her heart - are in more danger than she ever could have imagined..

Book Review - Silver Shadows

Silver Shadows

Author: Richelle Mead 

Series: Bloodlines #5

Genres: Magic, Vampires | Young Adult

Release Date: July 29th 2014

Publishers: Razorbill

No. Pages: 380

Source: Purchased 

Rating: 

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Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.
Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .
Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off

Book Review - Vampire Acadmey

Vampire Academy
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #1
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 26 May 2009
Publishers: Razorbill
No. Pages: 322
Source: Borrowed
Rating:

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn't just any boarding school - it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s, the very place where they’re most in danger..

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi - the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires - make Lissa one of them forever.

I borrowed Vampire Academy from the library three times before I actually got around to reading it and I confess to be absolutely ashamed of such a thing. Why did I not read it on the first outing, god only knows? But why did I take out a second time when I hadn't read it before? Maybe it was hope, a sign of encouragement.. But why on earth did I take it out a third time if the last two attempts had failed? Truthfully, because of Stacie. If it wasn't for her insisting I try this series and see whether my rough relationship with vampires was just that they're not for me or whether I'd just read the wrong kind of book in the past, I would never have considered Vampire Academy, no matter how many people recommended it to me, however, I'm more than pleased to say that Vampire Academy and I got along like a house on fire and I, without a doubt, plan on reading, enjoying and devouring the rest of this series. Why you ask? Let me tell you..

Book Review - Across the Universe

 Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis

Series: Across the Universe #1

Genres: Dystopian, Space | Young Adult

Release Date: January 11th 2011

Publishers: Razorbill

No. Pages: 398

Source: Gifted

Rating: 

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A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming

Book Review - Across The Universe

Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #1
Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 3rd March 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
No. Pages: 319
Source: Gifted
Rating: 
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Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Book Review - Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 14th June 2011
Publishers: Razorbill
No. Pages: 288
Source: Gifted
Rating: 
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Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Book Review - The Future of Us

The Future of Us
Author: Jay Asher, Carolyn Mackler
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 16th October 2012
Publishers: Razorbill
No. Pages: 365
Source: Gifted
Rating:

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything.

Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Book Review - Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #1
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 26 May 2009
Publishers: Razorbill
No. Pages: 322
Source: Borrowed
Rating:

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn't just any boarding school - it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s, the very place where they’re most in danger..

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi - the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires - make Lissa one of them forever.