Winner!!

All right, there were a total of 912 entries for the signed arc of SHADE by Jeri Smith-Ready contest, and the winner is.....

DENISE MADNESS!!!!

Congrats Denise! I just sent you an email, so email me back within 48 hours!!

Huge thanks to everyone who entered or posted about this contest! I'm sorry you couldn't all win, but be sure to go show Denise some love on her blog!

Lea

Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson Review

Book: Claire de Lune

Author: Christine Johnson

Age: YA

Release date: May 18th, 2010

Pages: 352

Source: YA Addict (for a tour)

Summary:

Torn between two destinies...

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: She's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will changer her forever....

Review: Claire de Lune was nothing like what I expected, but in a great way.

At first, I was a bit perplexed that everyone seemed to know about the werewolves, but I kind of liked how Johnson really made it her own story that way. There's a bit of romance mixed into the story, which definitely complicates Claire's life even more. Despite the werewolf aspect, it seemed to be fairly realistic, which kind of caught me off guard.

The beginning starts out with Claire learning that she's a werewolf, and her struggle with this new part of herself (the physical change, keeping it a secret, et cetera). Claire definitely didn't ask for this, and it was easy to see that at first she was so upset about it all. Claire is a very likable protagonist, and I found it easy to relate to her.

The plot moves along nicely, keeping the suspense rolling as to who is attacking people in the town, while Claire struggles with all her different relationships (friends, love interest, et cetera). At times, a bit more action would have been nice, but overall, Claire de Lune was spectacular.

Highlights: There were plenty of mysterious moments, and the description was wonderful. I loved the moments that Claire was changing into a werewolf, they were always so intriguing. I couldn't help myself but to keep flipping the pages, curious as to what would happen next, so this is definitely a great aspect to the story and the writing. I really loved the relationships in this novel as well, especially the moments between Claire and her mother, when they really (and finally) started to understand one another as the barriers between them fell.

Lowlights: I felt like the rogue werewolf was presented very obviously (which bothers me, because I usually love the guessing game where I keep switching ideas of who it is), and I also really disliked how some of the pack members weren't fully delved into. I honestly kept forgetting about the other pack members entirely, which is such a shame since I really enjoyed reading about the pack. 

As a whole, I really, really enjoyed the story and hope that Johnson's next one it just as incredible!

Rating:       

Lea

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Book: Fallen
Author: Lauren Kate
Release Date: December 8th, 2009
Source: Won from Ellz Reads
Summary:

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at Sword & Cross boarding school in Savannah. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are screwups, and security cameras watch every move.

Except Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce -- he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret...even if it kills her.

Review: Fallen is dark, mysterious, and interesting (despite it's flaws).

When Luce shows up at Sword and Cross, she makes only a few friends, and a couple instant enemies. Yet, she can't seem to stop thinking about Daniel (even if he is a complete jerk to her....repeatedly. But that's the new "sexy", right?), but then there is nice ol' Cam (maybe I'm the only one that gets the "creeper" vibe off this guy?). Needless to say, she's got herself in one interesting love triangle that I couldn't tear myself away from. Add to that the mysterious shadows that Luce always sees, and quite a few more interesting moments (and accidents) at Sword and Cross, and you've got yourself a page turner. I'd say more, get a bit more detailed, but then I'd ruin the entire plot.

While I enjoyed the story, there were some flaws and inconsistencies. Despite this, the writing is wonderfully addictive. The story is intriguing, and I never really knew just what was going to happen next, which is fun for a reader like myself. 

Fallen weaves mystery, intrigue and shocking moments into one enchanting story. I was shocked quite a few times.

Highlights: The description kept me interested, and it was an easy novel to lose myself in. The pages kept turning and turning until I was done, and I was surprised at how quickly I finished. This is just one of those novels that keeps you curious, keeps you wondering, which was a definitive plus. Lauren Kate's writing is just my style, so I'll definitely be excited for the second installment, Torment. 

Lowlights: A lot of emphasis was placed on looks. "He's so hot, sexy...His smoldering eyes...blah, blah" (this is a generalization) -- Obviously, this wasn't working for me. Who cares if he's hot? Is he a nice guy (not at first)? Is he a good guy (questionable)? Sometimes I wanted to slap Luce, because she really focused too much on a pair of guys, and neither were really interesting beyond the looks department. I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing more about these two guys, development-wise.

Also, security was almost a joke in this novel. The teens ran off whenever they felt like it, and never got caught. They tamper with the security cameras, without consequence. How about some realism here?

In the end, I really enjoyed the story, as long as I didn't think about the details and just focused more on the story and the writing.

Rating:   3.5 out of 5