Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Hey, guys! Sorry for the absence, but I've been mega busy with school and I had practice yesterday and didn't get any reviewing done, but I finished this today so here's my review. YAY! A review finally!

Masque of the Red Death

First in the Masque of the Red Death series

4 stars


Everything in Araby Worth’s world is dying or in ruins. Her world was destroyed by a plague that decimated the population. The people who survived are left in fear clutching masks to their faces and the upperclassmen take refuge in the comfort of the Akkadian Towers. Araby Worth’s father created masks to save the population from the plague. The first mask was meant for her brother Finn, but she took his mask not realizing that once you breathe into a mask no one else can use it. She has nothing to live for except for dazzling nights in the Debauchery Club. Where she is adorned in beautiful makeup and dresses and ways to forget everything, but in the club lays two boys that both carry secrets. Will, the proprietor of the club who elicits emotion that Araby hasn’t felt since her brother’s death and Elliot, a wicked smart aristocrat who has ties to the evil prince that could save their world or bring them down. I was expecting to be blown away by Masque of the Red Death. The book is based off of Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, which I had gotten of glimpse of in Nevermore and was intrigued. I have still yet to fully read The Masque of the Red Death but look forward to reading it. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and the writing is flawless, but my biggest problem was the first part of the novel. I had trouble connecting to Araby. It’s hard to connect to a character that has disconnected herself from the world. I think that was Griffin’s intent when writing about Araby for the first part. We would receive glimpses of Araby’s feelings but they weren’t very noticeable. At least not until the last 50% of the novel where she starts to show the emotion she has been lacking. Araby is a disconnected from everything and even her friendship with April, another girl from the Akkadian Towers, felt fake and like they were only friends because they didn’t want to be all alone in a crumbling world. Once Araby starts spending time with Will though it becomes obvious that he and his family take part in helping Araby connect to herself again.


Yes I know this review is formatted differently from my usual way, but this book is unusual and my way just doesn’t seem right.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 7.5 After Transformation: 8

Will was, I admit, very dreamy and I looked forward to the times he was in the novel with Araby. I was a bit hurt by the ending though, but hopefully he will be able to redeem himself. I do understand why he did what he did though. I have mixed emotions to Elliot. I don’t like him, but when he was with Araby in the palace I found myself rooting for him. I don’t like that feeling of confliction. I like Will much more than Elliot, but at the same time I feel bad for Elliot and want him to be happy. It’s hard for me to believe that he is in love with Araby though since he seems to untrusting for love or friendship.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Will: 8.5 Elliot: 7.5


Prince Prospero holds everyone in the city with an iron fist. He says jump and they don’t even ask how high they just do it. Prince Prospero allegedly killed Elliot and April’s father, which is why Elliot is bent on overthrowing him and taking the town for away from his uncle in hopes of saving humanity. Reverend Malcontent is trying to get followers to believe that the plague was brought on by being sinners. He also poses as a threat and a force to be reckoned with. Even though there were multiple villains, they weren’t the type of villains to make me quiver in fear, but made me cringe in discomfort when described.


Villain Scale: 7
April, Elliot’s sister and Araby’s friend, as I mentioned above felt fake. In all towards the end it becomes obvious she is fake and parades her in a masquerade of beauty to hide her fear of dying. I didn’t really like April, but I didn’t dislike her either. Will’s brother and sister, Elise and Henry, are absolutely adorable and I just want to wrap them up in a tight secure blanket and take them away from the terrible world they forced to live in.

Character Scale: 7.5 


My connection to the characters was my biggest problem with this book, but after Araby’s change I sped through the book hungrily. Gobbling up every word and wanting to know all about what happened in Araby’s world. I am looking forward to more of Araby’s world and finding out how this new disease and revolt plays out. I have high hopes for the next novel and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.


Cover Thoughts: The cover is absolutely gorgeous and is just so beautiful. Every time I look at it I feel like I’m gasping for breath in the world that Araby breaths in. The cover is absolutely breath taking is perfect for this novel. 

Waiting on Wednesday

                                                   

I don't know if I'll be able to do a Waiting on Wednesday within the next couple of weeks so I'll just put the three books I was planning on doing in one big one.



Publication Date: October 23,2012
Summary also from Goodreads:
Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?



Publication Date: November 6, 2012
Summary from Goodreads:
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.



Publication Date: September 11, 2012
Summary also from Goodreads:
Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.


Those are the books I'm anxiously awaiting. What's yours? Leave a comment I would love to know.:)

Jewel of Atlantis by Gena Showalter

Jewel of Atlantis

Second in the Atlantis series

4.5 stars

Every being in Atlantis wants to get their hands on the Jewel of Dunamis, which legend claims can overcome any enemy and expose their plans and secrets. Grayson James is a human agent for the Otherworld Bureau of Investigation and has orders to find and protect the jewel from getting into the wrong hands, even if it means destroying it. What he doesn’t know is that the Jewel of Dunamis is a woman. When Gray helps her win her freedom all of Atlantis is in chaos in getting her. As they are on the run they discover a love that is only doomed. I enjoyed Jewel of Atlantis, but compared to Heart of the Dragon it fell short. Why did it fall short? The characters were my biggest problem. They didn’t feel as real as Grace and Darius from Heart of the Dragon did and I also had trouble connecting to them.


The main female character is the Jewel of Dunamis. Since she doesn’t have a name, but when Gray asked her what her name was she replied Jewel. So that is the name she is called along with a bunch of other names Gray made of for her. I liked Jewel, but I couldn’t really connect with her. She was well-written and had a good story line, but I couldn’t connect to her when I read her POVs. Aside from the fact I couldn’t connect with her she was a good character. She was strong, opinionated, and she didn’t give up through all the problems she faced, all admirable traits.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 8

The main male character is Grayson AKA Gray. Gray wasn’t very swoon worthy for me and I started to grow very annoyed with POVs. My biggest problem with Gray is that once he meets Jewel his train of the thought is perverted. He literally thinks like this.
Sex

Sex

Sex
Concentrate
Sex
Pain/ Fight urges

Sex

Sex 
 

There were more trains of thought but sex pretty much made up all of it. I couldn’t get over that. I had a hard time getting over that. I usually like Showalter’s males, but Gray fell short and I just didn’t like him. He did have good qualities but they weren’t good enough for me to forgive for his constant perverted thoughts.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 6

The Villain- Marina is the Demon queen and she wants to get Jewel back after she escaped her. Marina was annoying, vain, stupid, and manipulative. She would’ve been a great villain if she wasn’t so dumb. But she is a believable villain because she was blinded by her own wants to not realize obvious stuff. Layel pretty much stole the show as the villain. Layel can be a good guy, but he’s also no doubt a villain. We get a lot more insight into him and I can’t wait to read his story.

Villain Scale: 8.5

We get to see Grace and Darius at the end and it was nice to see them along with other dragons like Brand. The nymph king was also shown in a scene and I can’t wait to read his book.
Character Scale: 8  

The characters were my biggest problem in this book, but other than that the book was close to perfect. The storyline was entertaining, the plot was suspenseful. The writing captivated me as usual. I always seem to love Showalter’s writing. I can’t wait to read The Nymph King and find out what happens next in the realm of Atlantis.

Cover Thoughts: The guy is hot, but he looks nothing like Gray. I still like the cover though. Compared to some of the other covers for this book this one is the best.  

   

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

First in the Love at Stake series

5 stars

Roman Draganesti is a vampire, but he’s not just any vampire. He’s the founder/ inventor of Romatech Industries, a place where synthetic blood is manufactured and the night and day crew isn’t all just human. When Roman is brought the latest idea in vampire drinking to try he ends up losing a fang, with only 24 hours to get the tooth fix finding a dentistry opened at night is harder than it looks. He finds Shanna Whelan, a dentist who is afraid of blood and on the run from the mob. I had read this series out of order, the first book I read being The Vampire and the Virgin, and I already knew who Shanna and Roman were, but I still wanted to read their story and know all about their romance. I’m a romance stalker I guess you could say. All things romantic, I stalk it. Armed with a catchy name (you can’t deny that title is catchy) and an awesome summary, this series looks like it would be fun and it is! How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire is absolutely hilarious. From page one I was laughing like a hyena. Sparks’ writing is stunning and easy to read. She has a great with words and can bring humor into the most serious of times.


The main female character is Shanna. Shanna had witnessed a gruesome murder and she’s on the mob’s hit list. She has special psyche abilities where she can block out mind control. Shanna is such a great character. She’s one of my favorite heroines of the series.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 8.5

The main male character is Roman. Roman is a brilliant scientist who’s not only saving human lives, but he’s also preventing them from being attacked by creating synthetic blood for his fellow vampire brethren to drink. Roman is a great guy. He’s sweet, charming, caring, and he genuinely loves Shanna. Granted they only knew each other for a short period of time, but that didn’t bother me in this story.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 8.5

The Villain- The Malcontents and the vampire hunters. The Malcontents are vampires that refuse to drink synthetic blood and love carnage, hate, blood, rape; you know the typical evil vampire stuff. I hate the Malcontents they truly have no care for what they do. The vampire hunters are humans with special abilities, like Shanna, the leader of the Stake Out team is Shanna’s father, Sean Whelan. I don’t like Sean.


Villain Scale: 8

The characters in this novel, whether they are main are side, they made me laugh and made me feel emotion. I loved every single vampire or shifter in Romatech.

Character Scale: 8.5

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire was a great to start to a series. I’m sure I would’ve loved it even if I had read the series in order. I used to read adult series out of order so you may see that a lot in rereviews.


Cover Thoughts: I am not a big fan of the cover. I don’t hate it, but I don’t really like it. Out of all the covers in the series I think this is my least favorite. 

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

5 stars

April, May, and June are sisters. Yes, they know that their names are totally cliché and ridiculous so you don’t need to point it out to them. After dealing with their parents divorce, they find themselves living in a new house in a place where they don’t know anyone. One day they wake up and strange things start happening to them. It soon becomes clear that they have ‘superpowers’ or some kind of weird ability. April the oldest of the sisters is protective, responsible, bookish, and a mother hen. She discovers she can see the future which only proves to be disastrous when it comes to boys and her sisters. May is the middle-child and she’s a natural born loner. She discovers that she has the ability to disappear which is handy, but also a problem. June is the youngest of the sisters and she’s tired of being considered the baby. June can read people’s minds and she uses it to her advantage to become popular. Yes this book sounds super cheesy but I love cheese and sometimes a cheese fest is what I need.

I honestly have no clue why I put that picture, but I like it and think it's kind of funny in a messed up way.I was expecting a total cheese fest and I got one, but I also got a story that I enjoyed and even loved. The minute I read the first sentence I was sucked in and didn’t want to put this book down. Which was a good thing because I had to take LEAP that week, a standardized test in Louisiana taken in 4th and 8th grade to see if you are ready to pass. I’m a fast test taker so once I was finished all I did was read and if I’m going to be sitting in a desk for three hours straight when I’m done taking a test, I want to be reading a good book. The book is told from alternating points of view and each voice was enjoyable and realistic. They sounded like real teens to me and I should know what a teenager sounds like since I am one.


The main female characters are April, May, and June. Each girl has a very distinct voice, problem, and fear. April was very protective of her sisters and I could relate to that since I have a sister. She was my favorite of the three. May feels invisible and like she doesn’t belong. I liked her and I think we’ve all felt that way. June was my least favorite of the sisters but I still liked her. She wanted to belong and fit in. I think we’ve all felt that way at some point in our life. These girls were extremely relatable and their problems were fun to read about.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: April- 8.5 May- 8 June-7.5

The main male characters are Julian and Henry. They were both love interest. Julian was April’s love interest and I loved him. Julian was sweet and their relationship wasn’t rushed and slowly blossomed from a friendship to relationship. Henry wasn’t nearly as entertaining, but I still liked his relationship with May. But he was a huge jerk at one point in the novel and he made me so angry I wanted to slap him.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Julian- 8.5 Henry- 7

There was no villain in this novel because they had to deal with their own minds and how they accepted this new power.

Character Scale: 8

One of the things I had wanted more from this book was to how and where their superpowers came from. It was slightly touched on when June talked to her mother but we never really got an exact explanation as to why they had these powers. I’m not sure how to categorize this novel. Yes they have superpowers, but the novel focused more on sisterhood and other teenage problems. So maybe, a realistic paranormal story is the best way to describe this book. I still love the book though and it was more than I was expecting. I am definitely checking out more of Benway’s works because she is an excellent writer.


Cover Thoughts: I like the cover. I usually read dark covers, but it’s nice to read a light fun cover that looks fun and makes me want to go to a sleepover. I like the other cover more, but I still really like this one.   

Stacking the Shelves

This is my first Staking the Shelves! Let's hope I do a good job.

I didn't buy any books this week, but I went to the library and checked out a bunch of books.

These are the books I got:


I'm currently reading this one and it's amazing so far. Also this is the sequel to Heart of the Dragon, check out my review for that one. Heart of the Dragon


I'm also currently reading this one and it's good so far.




I'm excited to start this one because I really loved Falling Under.


This looks really good and I'm anxious to see what's it about.


Sequel to Heart of the Dragon and Jewel of Atlantis. I'm excited about this one because I hear this one is the best in the series.


This looks really good and it's short so hopefully I'll breeze through it.


Sequel to Heart of the Dragon, Jewel of Atlantis, and The Nymph King. I'm intrigued by this one because it's about the Vampire King.


This is the sequel to Angels' Blood which I have a reviewed and I'm excited to find out more about Raphael and Elena.


The sequel to Almost to Die for. It's also short and I hope I breeze through it as well.


I'm curious about this one. It sounds interesting. Let's see how it goes.

That's my haul for the week. What books did you get? Leave me a link in the comments and I'll check it out. :D

Haven by Kristi Cook

Haven by Kristi Cook

First in the Winterhaven series

3.5 stars

Violet McKenna has always had visions and no one ever listens to her warnings. Her father is a recent example of this case. After his death, she’s forced to choose between living with her stepmom in New York or with her grandma in Atlanta. She sees a brochure for a boarding school named Winterhaven and is immediately drawn to it. She decides to move to New York with her stepmom and attend Winterhaven. Once she’s there she meets Aiden Gray. A boy who she can’t help but feel she knows somehow. The school seems to be hiding just as many secrets as Aiden and she wants to know what’s being hidden. I don’t know why but I had been wanting to read this book ever since I had stumbled upon it on Amazon. The back of the jacket-flap summary sounded interesting enough and I thought I was in for an original story. I found this book at my library and put it right on the top so I could dive right in to it. This book is nothing special. I thought I would be reading about strange super powers and some big plot to take everyone down and a romance thrown in. Sadly this was not the case. Yes there were superpowers but they were hardly touched on and only mentioned every now and then throughout the novel. This book was really all about…vampires. That’s right vampires. Not once did the summary mention vampires and I call bullshit on that.

If you write a book about vampires then I think the jacket summary should at least hint about vampires. Maybe the writer thought it would be a suspense technique but all it did was annoy me and make say, “What? I thought this book was about special abilities, not vampires.” The writer was mediocre and it didn’t captivate me very much. Let’s talk about these characters. 

The main female character is Violet. Violet was nothing special and a pretty boring character. I read this book back in March and I can’t even remember a good quality about her. I probably should’ve wrote more about her in my old review but I guess even then she meant nothing to me. I have come to the conclusion that she is just boring.
 
Overall she’s a Mary Sue.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4.5

The main male character is Aiden. I think I’m spelling his name wrong. If I am sorry, but I just don’t have any fucks to give about him.


I mean he’s not a bad guy; he just wasn’t a well developed character. I like him well enough, but I don’t feel like I really learned anything about him other than the obvious things. That he likes science and some other stuff I don’t want to spoil for people that want to read this book.
 
Swoon Worthy Scale: 6
 
The Villain- I’m sure you could guess who it is so I won’t talk about it.

Villain Scale: 5


Violet’s friends are Kate, Cece, Sophie, and Marissa. I liked the girls and they each seemed different, but their friendship with Violet felt rushed. It felt like this when I was reading, “Oh look you have a new roommate and roommates always end up being friends and let’s make her friends your friends too.” The relationship also felt fake; there were times when it the friendships felt like they were just for show.


Character Scale: 6

I will give the author this though the ideas were quite original and new when it came to paranormal things we already heard about before. I will probably read the sequel. I hope to find a lot of improvements in it. I expect stronger writing, more character development, less predictability when it comes to villains, and to captivate me and make me rave. I’m curious to see where the story goes. Let’s hope it’s somewhere good.

Cover Thoughts: The cover looks pretty good on the computer; in fact I really like the cover on the computer. When I looked at the cover up close in real life, I thought it was ugly. The cover looks animated and just wrong. I mean it could’ve been a beautiful cover if the colors wouldn’t clash and it had the right kind of editing.