Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Paperback: 267 Pages
Release Date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Ink Monster
Narration: First Person: Tessa
Genre: Paranormal/Werewolves
Challenge: None
Source: Bought

The Alpha Girl Series
Book One: Becoming Alpha
Book Two: Avoiding Alpha
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind. 

But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves. 

Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.

When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.

My Review:

Your typical werewolf story, but entertaining nonetheless. 

In the beginning, I enjoyed reading about the main character and connected with her instantly, but as the novel progressed, I grew more and more irritated by her irrational behavior. She was still strong and brave, someone who fought back even when the odds were against her....but there was a point when it just became too much. It seemed like every single time there was a chance to beat someone, she just had to take it. Always, constantly having to one-up someone to show them who the boss was, even if they were far wiser than her. Once or twice, I have no problem with. In fact, I even cheered for her the first two times. But it happened countless times after, which annoyed me ceaselessly. Plus, she became a bitch after she turned into a werewolf. Some of her snappiness can be brushed off as heightened emotions, but not all of it. 

Another thing that bothered me was the lack of plausibility of the story. It seemed like everyone and their mother knew about the existence of werewolves in this certain community, but the rest of the world didn't. What's to keep the "norms," as the werewolves call them, from going to the press and exposing their kind to the rest of the world? Wouldn't it be a little suspicious to have a town infested with huge wolves? Don't you think the aforementioned problem, and the mysterious happenings around that town, would be enough to draw government attention to it? Plus, another thing I had a hard time believing was that Tessa was the first human to ever be unintentionally turned. 60 years in the same location and no other werewolf has ever accidentally lost control?

If you look at this novel from a distance, everything seems fine and dandy. It's only when you actually delve into the story, examining certain things, when you discover that everything isn't as perfect as it seems. Other than those two issues, I quite enjoyed this read. The supporting characters were awesome, especially Axel, and the writing was up to par. Will I be reading the sequel? Possibly.

Heroine- 3/5

Romance- 2.5/5

Action- 4/5

Writing- 4/5

Overall- 3.5/5

Rise by Andrea Cremer

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 432 Pages
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Narration: Third Person:
Ember, Alistair, Eira
Genre: Historical Fiction, Werewolves

Nightshade Prequels:
Book One: Rift
Book Two: Rise

Nightshade Series:
Book One: Nightshade
Book Two: Wolfsbane
Book Three: Bloodrose

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The sequel to Rift and the prequel to the New York Times bestselling novel Nightshade.

Everything Conatus stands for is at risk. Hoping to gather enough resistance to save their order, Ember and Barrow attempt a desperate escape. But fate offers little mercy. When their mission is exposed, the couple face relentless pursuit by the supernatural horrors that act on the commands of Eira’s ally: the mysterious Bosque Mar. A shocking revelation forces Ember out of hiding, sending her back into the heart of dark magic at Tearmunn keep, where she must convince her old friend Alistair of her love or face dire consequences. Ember’s deception offers the only chance for the resistance to succeed, but what she discovers in the shadows beneath the keep will shatter her world and bring about the Witches’ War.

Richly sensual and full of magic, action and danger, Andrea Cremer's fifth book set in the Nightshade world is an edge-of-your-seat page turner.

My Review:

Andrea Cremer was the first author to get me hooked on werewolf novels! Yeah yeah Twilight was a major contender in it as well, but in my opinion, Twilight was more focused on vampire lore and their origins rather than werewolves themselves. When I first read Twilight (My first YA Novel ever!), I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! But now that I reminisce on it after reading a whole plethora of vamp novels; I have recently realized that the whole idea of sparkly, shiny bloodsuckers is a bit silly.

Anyways, back to the whole werewolf genre. After I heard that Andrea was planning on writing prequels to her bestselling Nightshade series, I was flipping ecstatic. Two huge reasons why I love her novels so much are because of her epic writing style and her badass female protagonists! In Nightshade, we follow the story of Calla, a girl who isn't happy about her carefully arranged marriage and future. Instead of submitting to her master's orders, she finds a way to fight back in order to gain control of her own life and make her own decisions. Ember has a similar story as well. She too, isn't happy with what her father has in store for her, and instead of marrying some airhead with a buttload of money just for the purpose of securing allies for her greedy father, she flees to Conatus, in hopes of becoming what she has always dreamed of being.  A Warrior.

And did you see the covers!? Rift was absolutely gorgeous! I had to quell the urge to buy a hardcover copy in Barnes & Noble, just for the purpose of staring at it all day. The cover for Rise was pretty as well, but I didn't fangirl over it as much as I did Rift.The yellow color palette was unique; I don't see much of those shades on YA novels! But, to me, the candle looked corny and fake, which ruined my overall obsessiveness of the cover.

Historical Fiction is not my forte, but I have to say that Rift, Rise, and Throne of Glass are rare exceptions. The style of writing Andrea used helped me connect with the characters and imagine the setting in which these events took place. Andrea has a unique way of structuring sentences that just immediately captures your full attention. In Rise, answers and jaw dropping discoveries are finally revealed! Although I wasn't completely satisfied with the explanations that were given, Andrea did a decent job at it considering the fact that she invented this mythology from scratch. However, there were still a few loose ends that I really wished were better tied together. It's not necessary to read the prequels before reading Nightshade, because there's only like what, one character that connects both series? But I would definitely recommend reading them in order so that you understand the whole background story, how werewolves were brought into the world, and where wraiths and lyulfs really originated. 

Ember. I was quite flabbergasted by the changes in her personality and character. Maybe it's just me, but I felt like she was nowhere near the headstrong, fiery spirit that she was in Rift (No Pun Intended xD). What Happened!? There were a few moments when I enjoyed Ember's character and how she responded to difficult situations, but the majority of the time I felt like she was weak, desperate, and needy for attention. It wasn't too bad in the first 30% or so, but as soon as she returned to Alistair, things got ugly. All Alistair had to do was ignore her for a few days, and she would go out of her mind wondering what she did wrong and why he wouldn't pay attention to her. I mean yeah those are realistic reactions, but it was just the way that Ember said it, acted, and her thought process that just made me want to smack her. The old Ember definitely wouldn't let anyone use or push her around like that. I understand that a lot of it was a act to try to gain Alistair's trust in order to use it to their advantage, but you can still act one way and think another.

Another thing that I was really looking forward to were the fighting scenes and the interactions between Ember and her horse Caber. I'm a huge sucker for animal companions; For Example Buruu in Stormdancer and Nox (I think that was her name..) in the Touch of Frost series. I loved the fact that Caber had his own little personality and horsey sense of humor. Although we do see some of Caber in this novel, he wasn't in it nearly as much as I hoped. There were barely any fighting scenes either! Only a short one in the very end, which was basically the only reason I wanted to read this book in the first place. For the action and adventure! I get that it was neccessary for certain events to pass in order to set the scene up for the actual novels themselves, but I couldn't help but be disappointed by the outcome. =/

Alistair was a complete physco. He never respected Ember as a warrior or saw her as his equal in combat like the others did. And now after reading Rise, I'm glad that my hypothesis from the previous novel was dead on. He was scum. Absolute scum. Of course this was probably the author's intention, but still. Here's a quick recap if you don't remember who he is: Ever since they were children, Alistair was in love with Ember, unbeknownst to her. As they grew older, his love turned into something much darker and sinister. What used to be affection and compassion morphed into lust, dominance, and possession. Of course it's not totally his fault. Bosque Mar, the netherling responsible for the pickle of a situation there in, had a huge hand in his violent transformation. Anything connected to Bosque, anything at all, would be corrupted sooner or later. Bosque Mar just repressed Alistair's redeeming qualities and enhanced his ambition and drive to crush anything that got in his way.

The action was pretty well paced. Even when I didn't like what I was reading, I couldn't bring myself to put the book down. Although I enjoyed the first prequel Rift a lot more than Rise, because of the vast number of battle scenes, Rise was intriguing in it's own way.

Overall, if you enjoyed the Nightshade series, I encourage you to read these as well. Rift was magnificently written and included everything from dark magic, intense battle scenes, a steamy romance, and most important of all, a strong heroine. In Rise, we see more answers to the questions we've been asking, at the expense of losing our brave heroine and fast paced fighting scenes. Although I was disappointed at how Rise turned out, I don't regret reading it.

 

Note: This review was entered for the 2013 January Paranormal Reading Challenge.

Heroine- 2.5/5
Action- 3.5/5 Kept me interested even when I didn't like what I was reading.
Romance- 3/5
Writing- 5/5
Overall- 3.5/5

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 336 Pages
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Narration: First Person: Sophie
Genre: Paranormal/Witches

Hex Hall Series:
Book One: Hex Hall
Book Two: Demonglass
Book Three: Spell Bound

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend
is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

My Review:

Since I was being annoyingly persnickety on figuring out which book to read next, I decided to pick something randomly and hope for the best. Hex Hall was the prestigious winner! I loved the unique cover design which almost gave off a sort of Alice In Wonderland vibe. And since I'm absolutely dying to read Splintered right now (AKA a retelling of Alice In Wonderland), I thought Hex Hall would be an excellent way to curb my panicking until January 1st. However, as I'm studying the cover in the present, I'm still a bit perplexed as to why the publishing company decided to place a black cat on each of the covers when it doesn't correspond with the story.....

The premise of a school/camp of supernatural beings isn't an original idea, but at the same time, isn't overused to the point of exhaustion just yet. Hex Hall was fast paced and almost always had me at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. In fact, I was so entranced by this book that I ended up reading the whole series within the span of a day and a half! Hex Hall being my favorite among them all.

Sophie Mercer was just like any other average sixteen year old girl, except for the fact that she's a witch of course. For three years she was able to keep her supernatural powers under wraps with the help of her mundane mother. But after a love spell gone awry, she had no choice but to leave her old friends behind and start attending Hex Hall, a reformatory school for fairies, witches, and shapeshifters who have similar problems controlling their powers. While in orientation, the new students find out that their two biggest enemies have converged in the hopes of destroying the Prodigium once and for all, and their biggest target? Her. By the end of Sophie's first day, she's managed to become the victim of a werewolf attack, befriend a vampire outcast, and piss off three of the most powerful dark witches on campus. And if that isn't bad enough, she also finds out who her real father is, and discovers that her magic might be far more darker and sinister than she ever realized....

The protagonist, Sophie, was my favorite character out of the whole book! Although she was gullible and naive at times, she learned from her mistakes and came out stronger, braver, and fiercely loyal to her friends. But even though she was confident, she wasn't perfect. She had her vulnerable moments when all she needed was a shoulder to cry on, and that helped me connect to her character better, because we all have those moments. The best part? Her inner dialogue and God given talent of sarcasm! This has got to be the funniest book I have ever read so far! Even beating out Puck from The Iron Fey series, which is seriously saying something, because he's freaking hilarious! Sophie's humor was NEVER corny or over the top, at least to me, and the jokes she cracked actually made sense! She's one of those characters who scoff in the face of danger as if to say, "Me? Scared? Ha!" Her jokes had me laughing so hard, to the point where I was on the verge of crying. My parents were giving me wide eyed looks throughout the whole book and probably considered committing me to a mental institution for a few moments there. xD

The friendship that Sophie and her vampire friend, Jenna, created was easy and natural. Yeah yeah at first Sophie was a little skeptical as to whether or not Jenna would try to suck her blood while she was sleeping, but she didn't let that get in the way! They both had the same sense of humor and always had each other's backs. And that one scene with all the dresses? For some reason, I thought that was brilliant and laughed until I could barely breathe!

Archer Cross. Don't you just love the sound of that name? It rolls right off the tongue! Archer Cross *Swoon*! He was the only love interest for this novel. Thank God! Suffice to say, that even I'm starting to get annoyed at those petty little love triangles. I used to look forward to them in every novel, but I have turned my life around and finally seen the light! I guess I don't mind them TOO much in debut novels, but 95% of the time, I hate the way they turn out. There so predictable. Either the unlucky guy gets stuck with another girl and they end up falling deeply in love, or he dies a bloody and heroic death protecting the love of his life. Well anyways, off of my rant. The romance from Hex Hall felt real! There was no Insta-Love connection. It was a crush feeling at first, which is totally understandable considering the hotness that is Archer Cross. Then they built a friendship that was made up of snide comments, playfully flung insults, and the rare, once in a while, heart to heart conversations. And Finally, that friendship blossomed into something a little more. I loved watching their relationship grow!

Overall, Hex Hall is a great novel for anyone looking for a good laugh. The humor made sense, and I understood most of the pop culture references. They talked like actual teenagers instead of using the annoying slang some authors think we use in real life. Hex Hall was a fast paced read, had a snarky, slow building romance, and a great story line!

Favorite Quotes:

“Let's just say you may regret that second piece of cake.'
Oh my God. Regret cake? Whatever was about to happen must be truly evil.”  

-Rachel Hawkins, Hex Hall

 

“I was literally seeing stars, and every ragged breath I took felt like I was trying to breathe through broken glass.

On the upside, my crush on Archer was totally gone. Over. Once a boy has slammed his kneecap into your rib cage, I think any romantic feeling should naturally go the way of the ghost.” 

-Rachel Hawkins, Hex Hall

Heroine- 4.5/5
Romance- 4.5/5
Comedy- 6/5
Action- 4.5/5
Overall- 4.5/5