The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

First in the Devils Duo

5 stars

In the summer of 1974 all 21-year-old Dawn Emerson wants to do is compete in her hometown’s rodeo, get back with her ex-boyfriend, and become the hottest music journalist at Central Washington University. Her plans are forgotten when Creem magazine, the leading rock and roll magazine, wants her to go on the road with her favorite band, Hybrid. The assignment is like a dream come true. Dawn will finally get her music credibility and she gets to experience life with rock stars. Dawn hopes interviewing the band will be easy, but no one seems to want her there. The lead guitarist, Sage Knightly, doesn’t want Dawn there and tries to get her to leave. When monsters star showing up it becomes obvious that Hybrid’s demons are more than personal. Can Dawn save their souls or are they all going straight to Hell? I don’t think I did that storyline justices, but not even the Goodreads summary does it justice. This book is just fricking amazing. No description does this story justice because it’s too amazing for words. I love rock stars and rock music. Karina Halle captured the world of rock perfectly and her personal background helped to make the story authentic in the spots where it needed to be.


The main female character is Dawn. Dawn is totally kick ass. She’s just as cool as Perry from Darkhouse, but even cooler because she meets rockstars. Dawn is strong, but she’s still finding herself as a person. She has a story to tell and she’s still not sure what that story is. I liked her POV. She made bad decisions, but that’s what made her seem human. She was scared, happy, and real. I connected with Dawn and wanted to know more about her story as each page went on.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 10

The main male character is Sage. We don’t get a piece of Sage for a while, but when we do we get a piece of him. Sage is totally hot and drool worthy; I want a Sage for myself. Where do I find one like him, minus the demon baggage, of course? I loved the moments he was around and the sex scene.

I think I like Sage so much because he reminds me of Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria.
 
 

It’s uncanny how similar they are. Of course they don’t look alike, but if you’ve ever listened to their sophomore album Reckless & Relentless it’s like this book in a playlist. No lie it’s perfect. This guy is awesome. I can’t wait for more of him in the sequel.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 10

The Villain- Demons! They are groupies. That’s scary and weirdly awesome. I love it. More creepiness in the sequel, please.


Villain Scale: 10

The band broken down:
Robbie, the lead singer and the sex magnet of the group.


Pure Perfection~
Robbie is just like Ben Bruce who is also from Asking Alexandria. These resemblances are becoming uncanny. I liked Robbie and I hope to see more of him.
Graham, the drummer and occultist/ Satanist. Graham is creepy as hell. I still get shivers just thinking about him.
Noelle, the only girl in the band and bassist. Noelle has it rough throughout the book and I hope her future is brighter. I liked how her relationship with Dawn grew a little from just disliking each other.
Mickey, Noelle’s boyfriend and guitarist. Mickey and Noelle’s relationship was a roller coaster, but it was always interesting to see how to lovers in a band lived together.
Jacob, the band’s manager. All I have to say is hats off to you Halle for that concept. Jacob is one of my favorite characters in the book.
Bob, the bus driver. He traveled with Elvis and vows to take his stories to the grave. I liked how his relationship with Dawn became similar to a grandfather-granddaughter one.
Chip, the sound tech. Chip is cool, but it would’ve been cool to learn more about exactly all the things he did.
Dawn’s brother, Eric, suffers with Tourette syndrome and she’s practically his mother. Dawn’s dad suffers with alcoholism and has been on a downward spiral since her mother died. Melanie is Dawn’s best friend and brings out the brighter side of things. I loved the characters and each one had a purpose.

Character Scale: 10

This book is full of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. I wouldn’t expect any less from a book that promises it. More books should be as honest as this. It was fun to travel to a time to where I wasn’t living, but isn’t much different from today. I can’t wait for the sequel and with an ending like that one I need more.


I would like to dedicate this review to Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence and his fans. Mitch died in a motorcycle crash in the fall and even though I didn’t listen to his music I respect him and his family so much. His story makes me cry and I hope his daughter always remembers him. RIP Mitch

 
 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

To see the spoiler review click here.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

First in the Shatter Me trilogy

3.75 stars

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in 264 days. The last time she did she took someone’s life. She’s been locked up in a mental ward in complete solitary confinement and is alone, until one day Adam is brought in. Adam’s her new roommate. The Reestablishment controls everything and animals are dead and long gone. Diseases run rampant throughout the population, birds don’t fly, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment is coming for Juliette. She’s their new weapon and the leader, Warner, will stop at nothing to get her. I’m on the fence about Shatter Me. While I did love it at times it fell flat at others. I had heard numerous things about Mafi’s purple prose, but didn’t think much of it. This book is very purple prose. It screams it, bleeds it, smells it, and sings it. Sometimes the prose worked well and it made the story flow. Other times it made Juliette sound like she was trying way too hard to be smart. No one talks like a poetry book and Juliette sounded like she only knew how to talk in prose. It irritated me way too much sometimes. Mafi was trying way too hard to make her writing seem beautiful. It would’ve worked more in verse, but then again it probably would’ve just gotten all jumbled and would’ve failed. Was it always a bad thing to have it written in this prose? No because when it worked it was beautiful. The characters are also another thing I’m undecided about.


The main character is Juliette. Juliette is deep and thoughtful, but aside from that she has no personality. She spends her time counting down the exact steps, seconds, and numbers for everything. Who does that? I would get confused and if all I did was count I would fall asleep. Juliette is also a hypocrite. Warner speaks the truth to Juliette about herself and who he is while Juliette denies everything. This is going to be a major spoiler so don’t click unless you’ve read it or you’re curiosity has gotten the best of you. (view spoiler) I don’t like Juliette and I don’t hate her. I’m neutral towards, but I dislike her more than like her.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 7

The main male characters are Adam and Warner. Adam sounds sexy as hell, but aside from being sexy he doesn’t offer much. I would love to make out with Adam, but I don’t think he has a purpose to this story has to other than be part of a love triangle. He obviously isn’t an anomaly now that he isn’t (view spoiler)So why is he even here other than to look hot and offer romance scenes? Warner though is amazing. He has depth and I love him.



I want to wrap my arms around Warner and love him forever. Warner is the epitome of bad boy evil and he is so amazing and OMG just *swoons*. I can’t even finish a proper sentence when I think about him. I want more Warner. He’s perfect in every evil way and that kissing scene. *swoons* Juliette doesn’t deserve his attention.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Adam: 7.5 (but if this was on just looks he would be a 10) Warner: 10 *swoons*

The Villain- Warner, I love you. Let’s have fictional babies?
I like the prospect of the Reestablishment, but I want to know more about it. Juliette doesn’t know anything because she was locked up, so she’s not the best narrator when it comes to the downfall of the world.

Villain Scale: 9

Kenji is really funny and he’s such a relief to have around. He’s got secrets. James is a cute kid and it’s one of the few things I like about Adam. He has a good relationship with his brother and they don’t seem like cardboard when they are together.


Character Scale: 8

Shatter Me offers a lot of good things, but there are a lot of just OK things. I do look forward to reading Unravel Me. I probably wouldn’t have read Shatter Me at this time if it wasn’t for the fact that I got an ARC of Unravel Me. So, Mafi I’m ready for more Warner.


Cover Thoughts: I don’t really like this cover. I love the redesigned one.
 
 It’s beautiful. But this one is just so common and I don’t like it. I had thought it was OK at first, but now it’s not that great and it doesn’t look that great in person.

The Amazon's Curse by Gena Showalter

The Amazon's Curse by Gena Showalter

Fifth in the Atlantis series

3.5 stars

Zane is a fierce vampire warrior enslaved by the Amazons after losing the Gods games in The Vampire's Bride. Nola is an Amazon warrior that has been cursed with invisibility after losing the same treacherous games. Now these enemies are finally coming together to break free of the curses that have befallen them. Well I wanted to read this novella immediately after finishing the Atlantis series, but I didn’t have an e-reader until now. I thought this would be amazing, heart stopping, satisfying romance novella. It was satisfying, but not heart stopping or amazing. I had really high expectations for this novella because I really liked Nola and Zane in The Vampire’s Bride.


The main female character is Nola. Nola is a lot more likable in the novella. If you’ve read The Vampire’s Bride you’ll know how she pretty much ruined Zane’s life anyway she could get and absolutely hated and lusted after him. I like Nola, but compared to Delilah, her fellow Amazon, she wasn’t as strong as a character. She didn’t have a presence. She was there, but not really there; which is really ironic to say because of the curse. I didn’t even realize it until I thought about it. I’m a genius.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 7

The main male character is Zane. I really liked Zane in The Vampire’s Bride. I was rooting for his happiness. I loved his attitude, but he seemed a lot more broken The Amazon’s Curse. It made it really hard for me to like him. I just didn’t like him as much. It was a bit of a letdown because I liked him a lot previously.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 7

The Villain- The Amazons are the villains. Really I didn’t care whether any of them lived or died. The Amazons know how to fight and we didn’t even get to experience the battle. Rip off.

Villain Scale: 5

Layel and Delilah made an appearance. They were just so cute together and they have a baby on the way! YAY!


Character Scale: 7

This novella was a huge letdown for me. I feel like if this was an actual novel it would’ve been so much better. The characters lacked their usual umph, the Amazons were terribly developed, and the romance wasn’t as heart stopping as it was last time. It also really bothered me how Nola went from loving her sisters to hating them all because of Zane. Then again she didn’t really like them all that much previously, but the change was still really fast. This was good and entertaining and I liked it, but the things I mentioned bugged me.



Cover Thoughts: Look at them abs! I love the Atlantis covers and this is no exception, but it’s not the best or the worst. Mediocre at best.

Darkhouse by Karina Halle

Darkhouse by Karina Halle

First in the Experimental Terror series

4.5 stars

Perry Palomino is your typical 22-year-old, as typical as a girl like Perry can get. Perry has always been the chunkier girl, suffered with drug abuse, and is working an incredibly boring job. She feels empty like she’s destined for greatness but doesn’t know what. Her family goes to visit her uncles and cousins at their house on the coast of Oregon. Perry has always been fascinated with the lighthouse that’s on her uncle’s property, but never explored it until now. The lighthouse brings a slew of nightmares, scary things that could be there but are not likely, attention, and Dex Foray, a director and devilishly handsome older guy. Let me just start by saying this if you have a Kindle or e-reader get this book now! It’s free on Amazon and I’m sure other places so get a move on because it’s worth it. Not everyone will love this, but I did. I wasn’t really expecting anything when I went into this book. I was blown away though. This book is creepy. Not scary, but creepy. I like creepy things a lot. One of my favorite shows is Ghost Adventures and I love the tone of that show and this book is like GAC come to life. I love it! I don’t read or come across a lot of novels that are more ghost, entity, or demon (in ghost form) books. This completely caught me off guard and I’m glad I decided to check out Halle’s works. I had seen her around on Goodreads and was curious about her work. She’s definitely an author to check out.


The main female character is Perry. Perry is totally kickass. I love her. She’s funny, sarcastic, smart, and witty. She’s also incredibly real. There’s something about Perry Palomino that’s easy for me to connect to. She’s the kind of heroine I like to read about. She isn’t incredibly kickass, but she’s real. She’s human. At least I think she is...


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 10

The main male character is Dex. Dex… I honestly don’t know what to say about him. He’s mysterious and everything he does infuriates, makes me smile or laugh, blush, or confuse me. This guy is a complete mystery. We know a little about him, but not a lot. I like that aspect in Darkhouse. Some writers can’t pull off the whole mysterious guy in books, but Halle does it well. She makes me want to read more and find out who Dex is and where his relationship with Perry is going.

Swoon Worthy Scale: 9

The Villain- Here’s a little quote to make you curious or to just creep you out.
“Well, that officially was the story. But it didn't explain why the partially burned body of an ethnic woman was found tied to the lighthouse keeper's bed with strands of kelp.”- Uncle Al page 179
Not a scary villain, but the creepy element makes it weird and highly scary.


Villain Scale: 9

Uncle Al, Ada, Matt, Tony, and Perry’s parents are characters that play a role in the novel. Uncle Al is probably my favorite out of all the side characters and I enjoyed the talks he had with Perry. Ada reminds me of myself and little sister which is a very weird combination. I really like Ada and I want to see more of her. Matt and Tony are Perry’s twin cousins and they are definitely intriguing boys. Perry’s parents are both distinct and prove to be a new bump for Perry by the end of the novel. I didn’t really like Perry’s mom, but she grows on you and we didn’t see all that much of Perry’s dad.

Character Scale: 9

There was a creepy lighthouse, ghosts, a weird lady, and a bathroom scene that was actually one of my worst nightmares. I have a fear of being killed in a public restroom and I hate going in them. It creeped me out and had my insides all twisted. I hope their aren't any elevator scenes in the next books. *shivers* This isn’t the most amazing novel out there, but it’s definitely worth a shot. I liked the writing, characters, plot, mystery, and creepiness to the novel. I look forward to Red Fox and the rest of the Experimental Terror books.
P.S. The little warning at the ending of the synopsis makes me giggle because I didn’t find the language that bad, but I’ve learned that apparently people from Louisiana are just used to cursing and aren’t phased by it. So there is a lot of cursing so be forewarned.


Cover Thoughts: I like the cover. It’s simple and it fits the story. Not very many covers do that. I like the tone and creepy feeling you get when you look at it.

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Things coming up on the blog:

Darkhouse by Karina Halle review
The Amazon's Curse by Gena Showalter review

Currently Reading:

Shatter Me by Tahehreh Mafi
The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

Bites & Howls,

 Sarah