Book Review: Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Emblaze
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 3
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 409
Release Date: 11 October 2011

The games are over. Now, the battle begins.

Violet Eden knows her life will never be as it was. Phoenix, the exiled angel who betrayed her, is back and he’s willing to do anything to get what she has.

With the help of surprising new allies, an ancient Scripture is deciphered and a destination set. All that is certain – a brutal battle looms. With innocent lives at stake, Lincoln and Violet must work together, denying their soul-crunching desire for one another.

Seemingly holding all the power, Phoenix is always one step ahead. And when he puts the pieces of the terrifying prophecy together, he realises exactly who he needs in order to open the gates of Hell.

My Thoughts:

Can this series get any better?

Violet has some huge choices to make in this book. Where she stands with Phoenix, how much she should be telling her father who is getting increasingly nosy, how she can better protect the friends who know about her life as a Grigori, and probably the most important one, how does she stop Phoenix from freeing one of the most evil people ever known to walk the earth.

Violet once again stuns with her depth and emotion. She feels so alone after she figures out that Lincoln, her soul mate, his not only distancing himself from her because of their connection, but is shielding himself from her as well. They are growing ever apart and it hurts Violet more and more each day she sees him and it’s driven home once again that she can’t have him.

Shirvington has done such a good job in building this story that one can completely see where Violet is coming from. Usually when teenage girls feel that they have no choice but to do something stupid if they had just talked to someone about it everything would have been solved in the first ten pages, and I am normally so frustrated I want to slap them or throw the book across the room. But Violet really doesn’t have anyone she can talk to when it comes to the crunch in this book. Lincoln has for all intents and purposes rejected her, Griffin her leader and mentor is in a different country and if she doesn’t make a decision people she loves and who are helpless, will get hurt.

The one thing that did start to grind on me though towards the end was her continuous mentioning of her soul hurting. Yes, we know Lincoln is your soul mate. Yes, we know you can’t be together. Stop whining about your stomach ache because you have a broken heart and get on with it. It was mentioned just a few too many times for me especially towards the end. It probably grinded a little more because I am still on team Phoenix and still don’t like Lincoln that much.

I will admit, Lincoln grew on me a bit in Emblaze, but only in the “oh, so he is a person with feelings” way. Lincoln is too aloof for my tastes whereas Phoenix shows his vulnerability and his bad boy charm for Violet to see. Phoenix also has his heart in the right place, he may eventually kill Violet, but he does still care in the fact that only he is allowed to kill her, and he will kill anyone else who tries, I like that in a man.

Once again I loved the history woven into this story. The integration of Lilith and historical events that Shivington has linked back to the Angels, everything is so seamless and seems so effortlessly part of the story that it makes everything about the world she has created that much more believable and grounded.

I really can’t say too much more about Emblaze without falling into squee territory, it is absolutely fantastic. Shirvington once again drew me in with her incredibly emotional yet action packed writing. She once again left me with a two day book hangover because I just can’t get this series out of my mind. October 2012 is far too long to wait for Endless but I will still be waiting with eagerness.

Also in this series:
Embrace
Enticed

Book Review: Talon, come fly with me by Gigi Sedlmayer

Review: Talon, come fly with me
Series: Talon – Book 1
Author: Gigi Sedlmayer
No of Pages: 220
Release Date: 14 January 2010


Nine-year-old blond Matica lives in a remote little village on a dry plateau in the Andes of Peru. She moved here with her Australian missionary and schoolteacher parents when she was five years old. Ever since she could remember she faced cruel rejection because of her growth handicap. She is trapped in a body the size of a two year old. Because of that the local Indians wouldn’t accept her into their community or allow her to play with their children. Under the watchful eyes of her parents who understand her, lonely Matica explores the plateau for entertainment.

With patience and a sense of adventure she befriended a pair of condors and named them Tamo and Tima. A strong bond and love developed between them.

Having and egg, Tamo and Tima try to fight off a couple of poachers but they succeed in stealing their egg from it’s ledge. Eventually Tamo drives them away but the poachers leave the egg between some boulders on the plateau. Being unable to bring it back to the ledge, Tamo and Tima make it clear to Matica to take care of the egg, so she does.

Exactly on Matica’s tenth birthday, the condor fledgling ‘Talon’ hatches. The book then describes in detail how Matica helps Talon grow into the majestic bird he was meant to be.

Two months after confidently flying, the most unbelievably amazing thing happens. What Matica had dreamed of ever since she first befriended the condors, actually unfolds. That changes her life so completely that she can now see a positive side to her handicap. The Indians then fully accept the new Matica into their community.

This is the beginning of a time of incredible adventures with Talon and Matica, which is carried on in subsequent Talon books.

My Thoughts:

Talon, come fly with me had an ok start, but went downhill from there.

Matica is a 10 year old girl with a growth disability, after being shunned by the Indians in the village that she lives in, she finds her own place to play, by herself and away from their harsh comments. In the process she befriends a condor whom she names Tamo. They become so close that Tamo gives her his mate’s egg to raise because of the danger surrounding it with poachers.

When Talon is born Matica becomes his surrogate mother; feeding, caring for and raising him where Tamo and his mate, Tima, cannot. Talon and Matica become if possible closer than Tamo and Matica were and it’s with the help of Talon that Matica’s dreams of finally being accepted start to come true.

Talon, come fly with me has a good premise. When I read the summary, when I read what I just wrote, I wonder how it could be that a bird could give that much hope to a child that she could overcome the stigma of her disability. What I got was a far-fetched and poorly put together fairytale that has very little logic driving it.

Talon, come fly with me raises a lot of questions with me. If a village shuns your daughter to the point that she has no-one¬ to talk to or play with for five years, why don’t you move? If your daughter has a disability that stunts her growth, why are you letting her run around a forest without supervision? If you see your 10 year old daughter befriending a bird that you are scared of and that has the potential to kill her, why don’t you intervene? If you have been living in a village for five of the most formative years of your life, how can you not know the language? And finally, since when do condors have the intelligence to understand and communicate with people?

Now, the first few of my questions stem from the complete lack of parental support or supervision that was shown to me by Matica’s parents. My mother would have never let me run around without supervision when I was 10 years old, especially not if I had a growth disability that left me the size of a two year old, because logically, that kind of problem would cause issues elsewhere, with bones and organs.

She definitely would not and probably still will not let me go and hang around with a dangerous wild animal that is bigger than me and has the potential to claw my face off and eat it. If my mother does not think something is safe for her to do, she would definitely not let any of her children go anywhere near it, especially if it was alive and had a mind of its own.

My second issue is with Matica herself, she came across to me as a wilful, selfish child that has been spoilt in all the wrong ways throughout her life. She has been living in a village since she was five, and she still doesn’t know their language? How does that happen, her brother was born there and he doesn’t seem to know the language either. Matica expected the birds to give her their egg, Matica expected the egg to hatch on her birthday, and Matica expected her parents to be okay with a metre tall, talon footed animal running around their house crapping on their beds, eating from their table and knocking everything down.

My third issue is with the complete lack of logic contained within the pages of Talon, come fly with me. I was so inflamed by the sheer absurdity of this book that I actually did research into condors and their habits. Condors have never seemed to show above average intelligence, and yet both Tamo and Talon answer Matica’s questions with complete understanding, my cat is an intelligent creature, I have lived with her for 13 years and been talking to her for that long as well and no matter what kind of question I ask I have never and will never get a definitive yes or no answer from her, a grunt maybe but not a shaking of the head. Condors also lay two eggs, if the first one doesn’t survive the condors will instinctively lay a second, it’s how we are boosting their numbers in captivity the handlers take the first egg and hand raise it so the condors will lay a second one, was there any mention of that here though? Of course not, because that wouldn’t fit in with the overall plan of Matica saving the day and becoming a hero.

Talon, come fly with me hasn’t got any redeeming qualities for me, it reads like a first draft, jumpy and poorly written. Nothing is detailed and everything within it only serves to meet Matica’s needs and to make her seem a hero. The entire time we are spoken at and not to, we are being told that Matica is happy, but we never actually see it. All of the secondary characters are only there to boost Matica’s own opinion of herself and come of one dimensional and poorly created.

Talon, come fly with me was a complete train wreck, the idea was poorly constructed and the writing was poorly formed. I didn’t come away with anything from this other than mounting frustration and a new found knowledge of condors that I researched separately because of the absurdity surrounding the main character and her completely irrational relationship with a bird.

Book Review: The Taste of Apple by James Laidler

Review: The Taste of Apple
Author: James Laidler
No of Pages: 312
Release Date: 1 September 2010

UNDERNEATH THE APPLE SKIN THERE IS KNOWLEDGE AND HIDDEN DEEP WITHIN THE SEEDS OF CHANGE.

Pedro Jones is lost. Abandoned by his father and forced into commission housing with his Filipino immigrant mother, the future seems bleak.

But when Pedro meets the ‘mad’ street busker, Johnny Lazzaro, and gets involved with the East Timor freedom movement, life takes an unexpected detour through the uncharted backblocks of the human heart.

My Thoughts:

The Taste of Apple was not only better than I was expecting, it was exceptional.

Pedro is a half-caste living in Australia with his Filipino mother and Australian father. Life is as ok as it gets when your parents have a strained relationship and you’re going to a school where everyone hates you because of your intelligence and your background. But everything changes when Pedro’s father leaves one day and never comes back, leaving nothing but a note for his wife saying that it is time to move on.

Pedro and his mum move to Richmond, Victoria which isn’t the greatest of places, especially for migrants. There he meets Johnny a street busker who lives in his building. It’s Johnny that helps Pedro figure out what he wants from life and Johnny who helps him see what he has to be thankful for.


The Taste of Apple was an addictive read but also so incredibly powerful that it wasn’t a need to read just to get to the end but sheer want to continuously delve into the setting Laidler created with his prose. It wasn’t about the finish but about the journey Pedro went on to find himself, and his place in this life.

Laidler writes solely in freelance poetry, and while I would usually cringe at the thought of this, as I have in the past, he created a new appreciation in me for the style. Laidler uses his poetry for hard-hitting scenes and to create feelings I can’t imagine being created any other way. My stomach physically clenched and I actually had a head whip during some of the things Laidler showed us.

On top of Laidler's exquisite writing he also offers up a soundtrack to go with his novel. I was hesitant about this concept at first myself but once I settled into the occasional poem being read out to me with the accompaniment of music and sounds to go with it, a new level of understanding was reached a new depth to the story added and I began reading The Taste of Apple truly with Pedro in my head and the sounds of Richmond surrounding me.

The Taste of Apple was a superb read one I don’t feel I can do justice with this review. The Taste of Apple will make you smile, make you laugh and bring you close to tears with a few simple verses. I can’t fault it in any way. One would think that there would be a lack of character development and sure I don’t know what Pedro really looks like, because I never watched him in this story, but I know how he thinks, how he feels and what he wants because I was looking out through his eyes, and I think The Taste of Apple is the finest experience of looking out a characters eyes that I have ever read or will read for a long time to come.

The Taste of Apple is an experience I encourage anyone and everyone to at least try, because once you start, it will be difficult to stop.

Book Review: Enticed by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Enticed
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 2
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 413
Release Date: 29 March 2011

CONSEQUENCE HAUNTS EVERY CHOICE

Violet Eden is Grigori – part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengeance of exiled angels.

Knowing who to trust is key but when Grigori reinforcements arrive it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know...Phoenix’s hold over her is more dangerous than ever.

The race to find the one thing that could forever tilt the balance of power takes them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet’s own powers will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

My Thoughts:

Enticed made for a brilliant sequel that had me glued to every page.

Violet is still reeling over Phoenix’s deception and what she saw in the desert when she embraced, so when Lincoln deserts her again to go off on a secret mission while she is left to figure out why Phoenix wants the sacred Grigori scriptures, and when he is going to come after her.

Violet once again astounded me with her strength. Granted she is not the sharpest tool in the shed and not nearly the strongest, but her sheer will to power through her troubles and not let anyone get her down has me cheering her on through each new obstacle she faces. Violet is coming into her powers now and hopefully it seems, her fighting ability but she is still getting distracted by Lincoln, with whom she is still in love.

Lincoln is so far from being in my good books that he is going to have to do something astounding in Emblaze to even begin to make me like him. His character is a good one because you know he is the good guy but he is just so incredibly mean to Violet. He’s on a crusade to avenge his mother and instead of telling Violet what is happening, instead of being there for his partner when not only she, but his race needs him is incredibly selfish. I would want to avenge my mother too, but for a guy that was in love with a girl for two years and able to control himself every time he was around her to a loose cannon that doesn’t care what happens to him as long as he destroys this one exile is awful.

Phoenix crops up from time to time in Enticed as well, to remind Violet that he is all powerful and can kill her with a single thought, but there is still that connection between them that has me rooting for him to come good.

I also can’t wait to see more of Onyx – the exile turned human – who has taken on the role of comedic relief to help ease the tension of impending doom. Shrivington’s secondary characters all have their own personalities and aren’t hidden by the main which takes this series to that extra level.

Enticed was yet another whirlwind dive into the beautiful picture that Shrivington’s created with her words. Her superb historical elements of the story and completely believable explanations for how some exiles have lived out their existence on Earth has had me looking at the skies from time to time over the last couple of days.

Violet’s story has me enthralled with intense anticipation of what is to come in Emblaze and I absolutely cannot wait until I can get my hands on it as soon as possible.

Also in this series:
Embrace
Emblaze

Book Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Embrace
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 1
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 382
Release Date: 1 October 2010

THE WRONG CHOICE COULD COST NOT ONLY HER LIFE, BUT HER DESTINY.

All Violet wants is to be with Lincoln. But he has a secret so great it could tear them apart.

Then there’s Phoenix. He’s intense and enigmatic, but always there for her.

Caught up in a battle between light and dark – where angels seek vengeance and humans are warriors – Violet must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice. And who to trust...

My Thoughts:

Embrace was more than I expected, and I absolutely loved it.

Violet Eden’s life is turned upside down when she finds out that her best friend and man she is secretly in love with has been keeping a secret, about her. Violet is a Grigori, a half angel-half human protector of human kind against exiled angels, evil fallen angels that wish to control mankind.

After finding out that Lincoln has been keeping such a terrible secret about her identity she shuts him out of her life, a hard thing to do to your closest companion over the last two years. She meets Phoenix, an exiled angel who seems to have a darkness about him, but is fiercely protective of Violet when other exiles are around.

Violet was an interesting and well fleshed out character. After losing her mother at birth and being terrorized by a former teacher at school she has developed a habit of not letting much get to her and never fleeing from something too hard or scary. She broke that rule when it came to Lincoln and her destiny of becoming a Grigori leaning on Phoenix to help her get through her life upheaval.

Lincoln was a hard character to like for me if choosing between the two boys vying for Violet’s attention, he keeps secrets, lies and is condescending when around Violet but he also had that irresistible charm that Violet has been in love with ever since they got close. Violet’s and Lincoln’s love for each other was obvious from the first page, no matter how much Lincoln tried to keep his distance from her it was still clear that he loved Violet as much as Violet loved him.

Phoenix on the other hand is your typical bad boy; he is an exiled angel who takes a liking to Violet when he meets her. Violet tries to stay away but is inexplicably drawn to him. She admits that she doesn’t love Phoenix, but he can give her so much more, and is willing to give so much more than what Lincoln is.

Embrace was beautifully written, if a little confusing. I had a hard time keeping track of which angels were what and up until mid-way through the book exactly who the bad guys were. Even the motions of Embracing were a little sudden and rather confusing.

Other than the slight confusion Embrace was an engrossing read. Each time I was forced to put it down all I could think about was getting back to it. Having had some bad experiences with angel books in the past I highly encourage everyone to give Embrace a try.

Embrace is an addictive read, and left me salivating for more not just answers but for more beautiful prose and engaging characters. I cannot wait until I can dive into the next instalment in this intriguing series.

Also in this series:
Enticed
Emblaze

Book Review: Sweet Dreams, Miss England by Iris Blobel

Review: Sweet Dreams, Miss England
Author: Iris Blobel
No. Of Pages: 203
Release Date: 1st January 2010

This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for my honest review.

She could still hear Daniel's grandmother saying, 'Sometimes we meet people but not to share the rest of our lives with them, but merely for them to guide us onto a different path'.

Set in London and Dublin we follow the life of Nicky, a young mother of two who is married to Shane, an actor whose work requires him to be in Los Angeles. When Nicky meets Daniel, a fun-loving, spontaneous man from Ireland, she realises how much joy and passion are missing from her marriage, and consequently her life. Nicky is torn between her marriage to Shane and her love for this Irish charmer.

My Thoughts:

Sweet Dreams, Miss England was interesting, but slow.

SDME follows the story of Nicky, a mother of two living in London with a husband who lives in America. Whilst on a trip to Dublin, Nicky meets Daniel, a handsome Irish DJ who immediately catches her eye. Nicky being a neglected house wife falls into the arms of this man and a love affair ensues.

Nicky was a likeable enough character, if a little flawed. Her flaws were realistic, if sometimes a bit annoying. Although personally I don’t condone cheating, I would prefer that if you are unhappy in your relationship, walk away before starting something else. So the fact that Nicky had an affair with Daniel grated on my nerves a little bit. It is understandable however why Nicky did it.

As a young person Nicky fell head over heels for Shane, her husband, without ever experiencing anything else, so when Daniel came along and she felt a spark, she explored it. Of course it doesn’t help that Shane doesn’t take the slightest bit of interest in her or her children’s lives.

Although I can understand where Nicky might be coming from, I still didn’t like how she went about getting what she wanted. That may be my personal opinion, but for me, I wouldn’t be able to leave my (future) children just go have sex in another country. I wouldn’t lie to everyone around me because I knew that what I was doing was wrong. Nicky at times came across as selfish and whiny. It was a little too much about her.

Daniel was naturally the most likeable character in the entire story. He was charming, thoughtful and kind. He knew Nicky was married, but wanted to share his life with her anyway, knowing that she might walk away. Daniel was nice to her kids when he eventually met them and was just completely down to earth. Not much fazed him and he was willing to do anything for a friend.

Jamie was supposed to be the “best-friend” to Nicky, not that she was a very good one. I didn’t like Jamie; she was nasty, judgemental and too pass-remarkable. Which is how we are meant to feel about her. Although Jamie was destined to be “the bad guy”, she had a point. Nicky threw away her entire life for a guy she barely knew, and the first thing that ran through my mind was, if you’re going to do this to the man you’re supposed to love, what’s going to happen to this guy when you get sick of him.

Vonnie was cute, likeable and really friendly. She plays the part of the cool new Irish best-friend. She was a little unrealistic though. She encouraged the affair and Nicky going to Ireland so much, she was all about living in the moment, but for people who are in their 30s and 40s you would think that they would have learnt by now that not everything is about them.

SDME was written fairly well, the characters were nicely fleshed out and we got to see inside Nicky’s brain making it easy for us to see where she’s coming from. The characters felt a little too in their roles though. Shane was painted as a massive bad guy, everything was an ulterior motive and nothing was truly sincere. Jamie was supposed to be nice but because she wanted Nicky to stay in England she then became a bad guy. Vonnie and Daniel were such nice people, it’s almost hard to believe that such beings could exist and Nicky was the hard done by working wife. 

It took a while for me to really get into SDME; there is a lot of back story in the first few chapters. The romance was enjoyable and not rushed, but the story behind which Nicky and Daniel meet was a little weak. There were some unrealistic parts but overall SDME was an enjoyable read that I probably wouldn’t have picked up had it not been brought to my attention by Mrs. Blobel.

Book Review: Shadowfae by Erica Hayes

Review: Shadowfae
Series: The Shadowfae Chronicles – Book 1
Author: Erica Hayes
No. Of Pages: 267
Release Date: 13 October 2009

Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their songs, and big green trolls bust beads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape...

Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shape-shifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she does, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah – and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

My Thoughts:

Shadowfae was as interesting as it was hot.

Jade is your perfect gritty character. She was a nun who has pretty much turned into a paranormal crack-whore. To live she needs to feed off the energy of a person’s climax and the energy of her demon master, Kane.

Our story is set in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne is infamous for it’s dangerous night life and gang land wars. According to Hayes, a lot of the side gangs and drug runners are supernatural beings. We see their stories unfold in the Chronicles to come. But for now it’s focused on Jade the succubus.

As soon as Kane wills her to do something, she must do it because of the bands that circle her arms, she is indebted to Kane for a thousand years, after which, she will die. For Jade it is a lonely existence because she hates Kane for his part in what she has become.

Enter Rajah, her sexy rival who is an incubus, for Jade to be free Rajah must die, but can she kill the man she is beginning to love? Rajah is sought after by nearly as many who want Jade as he himself wants her.

Together they embark on a journey to freedom and also to each other. Only they know what it feels like to be indebted to Kane and so they find solace with eachother.

Shadowfae was a hot read, the intimate scenese between Jade and her patrons had an edge of darkness to them, whilst her and Rajah made the pages steam with the intensity of their joining.

I love how the book flowed smoothly, even though we were constanly changing characters between Rajah, Jade and Kane. For Kane being such a bad guy, i started to like him aswell, with his vulnerability and soft-spot for Jade.

The trip into the Supernatural underworld that lies beneath the lights of Melbourne was intriguing, it’s like a paranormal Underbelly, but better. The scenery was vivid and detailed without taking time out from the story, everything just flowed together and it was an intense read.

I will definitely be picking up Shadowglass as I would love to read the next chapter in the life of Melbournes supernatural crime.

Others in this series:
Shadowglass

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