Spirit Bound

by Richelle Mead

Check it out on Goodreads!

Type: Book 5 of the Vampire Academy Series

POV: First person~ Rose

Rating: 4/5 stars

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's and to her best friend Lissa. At last, it is graduation, and the girls cannot wait for their real lives beyond the academy gates to begin. Rose is finally going to become a guardian, and live up to her dreams. 

Well, you've finally got a license to kill. It's about time.

But Rose knows that Dimitri is still out there, somewhere, doing who knows what. Her failure to kill him haunts her. And now that he has tasted her blood, he hunts her and will do anything to get her. Including going after Lissa if necessary.

I'll find you. There is no place in this world you can hide from me. I'm watching. Love, Dimitri.

Having chose Lissa over the undead Dimitri, Rose will do anything to keep Lissa safe from Dimitri's wrath. Because a Moroi is no match for a Strigoi, especially one as powerful as Dimitri.

But Rose can't help the love she still feels for Dimitri. Love isn't an emotion that is easily turned off. When there is a possibility of saving him, she can't pass it by. But is it really possible to bring the undead back or just some fairy tale?

That which is dead doesn't always stay dead.

Rose knows someone with information, but that person is Victor Dashkov, who just so happens to be in a high security prison in Alaska, a place Lissa and Rose helped lock him into. With some help from her friends, Rose sets out on an impossible journey, one that breaks almost every law Rose is supposed to live up to as a guardian.


The beginning was very slow. It really didn't pick up until the prison break and then again at the battle with Dimitri. It was really up and down, which I found annoying after the last two books which I loved and rated 5 stars. The most annoying aspect of this book was the relationship between Adrian and Rose. WHY are they together?! I feel like Rose was just using Adrian to fill the emptiness that Dimitri left in her heart. Obviously it isn't working because Rose still has very deep feelings for Dimitri and it shows in her actions. Adrian must really love her to put up with all this ex-boyfriend drama. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% team Dimitri, but I just feel bad for Adrian with the way Rose is going between the two.

As always, Dimitri was my favorite part of the book. It killed me when Dimitri turned, but at the same time I liked seeing him as the darkling/bad guy. It was interesting that his affections for Rose carried over through the change. As a dhampir, he loved he. As a Strigoi, he was obsessed with her.

If I could dream, I know I'd dream about you. I'd dream about the way you smell and how your dark hair feels like silk between my fingers. I'd dream about the smoothness of your skin and the fierceness of your lips when we kiss. Without dreams, I have to be content with my own imagination--which is almost as good. I can picture all those things perfectly.

But Rose failed to kill him when given the opportunity. She has accepted that it is impossible to save him. He is the undead. Lissa is alive, and that is what Rose must focus on. But Dimitri knows how Rose works and what he has to do to get to her, or who he has to take to get to her: Lissa.

"You're beautiful in battle," said Dimitri. His voice carried to me clearly, even above the roar of combat. "Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven."

"Funny," I said, shifting my hold on the stake. "That is kind of why I'm here."

"Angels fall, Rose." 

I loved that the events finally changed and it effected almost everyone involved. It changes the aspects of different relationships: Rose & Dimitri, Dimitri & Lissa, Lissa & Christian, Dimitri & the entire vampire race (lol that sounds a bit dramatic).

Living as a Strigoi had hardened his heart, killing any chance of him loving anyone. Killing any chance of him loving me. And I was pretty sure that if that was the case, then part of me would die too.

There is just something with Dimitri that every conversation with him, my heart gets heavy. It is really hard to explain, but his character just speaks to me and I am in love with him. Which was why these last 3 books have been difficult for me. This one was especially hard because of what Dimitri told Rose! I was already for a happy reunion but no.

I've given up on you.... Love fades. Mine has.

WAY TO BREAK MY FUCKING HEART RICHELLE MEAD. 

Lissa is what surprised me most in this book. It took all of 4.5 books for me to finally like her. She is finally becoming stronger and independent, especially now that her and Christian have broken up. Lissa is more serious about her future and has definitely matured (minus the green eyed monster of jealousy). Her power is growing and I am pleased with her determination to help Rose with her impossible quest to save Dimitri. She really does owe Rose with as much as Rose dedicates to the relationship. It has always been about Lissa and now Lissa has the opportunity to turn the table and help Rose. My prediction is that Lissa becomes queen after the end of this series, and I think she would be a decent leader and queen.

This book was probably one of the most political of there series, because the majority of it took place at Court. We see more of the queen and actually an unexpected side of her. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with some aspects of the book. A few questions were left unsaid. Such as how Lissa was able to charm the stake or how Rose learned to control the spirits. The last ¾ of the book was amazing and full of plot twists. It definitely made up for the rocky start. Everything is building up for an epic final book.

My tags: vampires, best-villans, badass-female-character, darkling, death, action, paranormal, YA, book-boyfriend, fantasy, deep-feels, watch-out-for-that-cliff, politics

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, #3)

by Richelle Mead 

Check it out on Goodreads!

Type: Book 3 of the Vampire Academy Series

POV: 1st Person~ Rose

Rating: 5/5 stars

This is my favorite of the series thus far! Rose has changed for the better since the events of book two, Frostbite. 

After everything that has happened, Rose still needs to graduate if she ever plans to become Lissa's guardian. She is almost there. The only thing standing in her way is the 6 weeks of field experience. Well maybe not the only thing.... 

Mason haunts her dreams and soon she starts seeing him while she's awake. But while vampires are true, Rose knows ghosts are just stories made up to scare the little dhampirs and Moroi, right? She feels guilt over his death, and can't help but wonder if this connection with Mason means something is wrong with her. Is she going crazy?

On top of that, Victor is going on trial for kidnapping Lissa in book one. He is one of the few who know of Rose's feeling toward Dimitri, and is more than willing to share this juicy piece of gossip to the entire Royal Court and ruin Dimitri and Rose's reputation.

If that wasn't enough strain on Rose's forbidden love affair with Dimitri, than Lissa's perfect relationship blows it out of the water. Not so long ago, Lissa's nightmares woke Rose from sleep. Now it was her sex life. To say things were a different would be a understatement. The psych link is stronger than ever, and it doesn't help that Lissa's strong feelings for Christian extend through the link making Rose feel even worse about her love life. Or more, her nonexistent love life.

Rose learns what it truly means to be shadow kissed, and the consequences that come with it. 

What I loved most about this book was Rose's character development. Since the events of book two, Rose is starting to realize how unfair the cards were dealt for the dhampirs. I was pleased with this progression because this was something that bothered me from day one of starting this series.

"My first duty was to protect Moroi and not give into my own impulses. Over and over, I repeated the guardian mantra. They come first. Those words were really starting to annoy me."

Lissa is another aspect of the book that has bothered me from the beginning. First of all, I find her selfish when it comes to Rose. As her best friend, how has she not noticed the way Rose feels about Dimitri? And the last chapter really pissed me off. That just showed how selfish she really was. I just find her weak and a high maintenance friend. She gets so wrapped up in her happiness or problems that she forgets to even think about her best friend. And Rose is the one, these days, that has the largest pile of crap to deal with. In Lissa's emotional absence, Rose turns to Dimitri as her anchor. I just do not like her as a character, hopefully she matures and can come to terms with the decisions Rose makes.

"They come first, right? 

"Not always. Sometimes, Rose, you have to know when to put yourself first." 

As for Rose, she is being challenged with the idea that Lissa does not necessarily have to come first, something that Rose has seen as an absolute truth her entire life. She is bound to protect the Dragomirs at all costs. This is becoming an old argument, one without a solution. Or maybe there is a solution, one that Rose has never dared to consider until now.

"You two are a match made in heaven. Or somewhere."

Ha! I love that quote! It is the perfect description for the duo that is Rose and Dimitri. These two were beautiful together this book (even more so than the other books, that is). I absolutely love them together and the way Dimitri treats Rose compared to other people. His love for her shows even when he doesn't say it. A lot happened between the two in this book. I can only hope for the best.

"I'd do a lot of things to protect you, Roza."

And that ending! Oh man, the feels.

At the end of the day, Rose definitely gained major respect from me. She finally stood up for herself and became her own person. I can see her becoming a major threat to her enemies and anyone who stands in her way. She is forming her own future, one that may not involve Lissa.

"You can't save everyone, though God knows you try."

"I just want to do what's right. I need to bring justice where it's needed." 

My tags: vampires, best-villans, book-boyfriends, ghosts, paranormal, badass-female-character, deep-feels, watch-out-for-that-cliff, romance, forbidden-love, fantasy, favorites, YA, boarding-school

Alive (The Generations Trilogy, #1)

by Scott Sigler

Cover #1

Cover #2

*ARC received in exchange for honest review*

Available on 7/14/15! 

I think the best way to view this book is to not look at any reviews and just go in blind. I know a lot of readers would not do that but I did, and I am pleased I did so. With that being said, I am making this review a bit different from my others. I don't want this review to spoil your experience of reading this book by giving out too much details.

Cover~ A

Looks badass to me. (Plus she's gorgeous)

Plot~ A

Darkness. That is all she comprehends. She calls out for her parents. Silence. Who are her parents? She can't even remember their faces. She is confined in a coffin. Trapped by bars that hold her in place. Where is she? Why is she here? What is happening to her? Who did this to her? Her survival instincts kick in, she escapes her dark prison and finds she is not alone. Eleven more coffins line the room. She frees the other survivors.

No one understands what is happening not has any memories from their past. But they are Alive. And they will find a way out and discover the truth of their prison. But the halls outside of their coffin room are even more dark than expected. Soon they realize nothing is what is seems and anything they imagine couldn't be further than the truth.

Characters~ B

Honestly, I found it best to not know what to expect when it came to the side characters. All are confused, scared, hungry, with no memory of their previous lives. The book is told from Em (aka M. Savage)'s POV and for whatever reasons, the others looked to her for leadership.

Writing~ A

Like I said earlier in this post, I don't want to spoil the events in this book, so I will try to keep it simple.

The summary from Goodreads (link on covers) make this book like the Maze Runner, but it is so much different. I found I liked it even more because it was more horrific and thrilling. The character have to experience more traumatic things and the backstory seems to be much more complex than anything you can think of. Many unexplained things happen that keep you on your toes. You never know what to expect and twists are at ever corner.

There was a sort of love triangle, but by no means does it take over the book. It seems a bit awkward at first due to the characters age and experiences (that will make more sense when you read it). Signer did a fantastic job expressing the age and maturity of the characters. Being inside Em's head was confusing at first, because that's exactly what she was: confused. As she recognizes certain emotions she changes and starts to understand things. The characters are all unique because of what happened to them, but it is very interesting to see them mature as the book goes on and they see and experience the things they do.

The world building was epic. Everything felt real and raw. It was basically like a giant puzzle piece. You try to figure out how everything goes together, but you are wrong 95% of the time! But when the puzzle pieces do fit together, it is a brilliant masterpiece.

Overall Rating~ 4.5 stars!

Scott Sigler creates a terrifying, intense, and thrilling ride for readers of any age. With constant action

My tags: science-fiction, dystopia, thriller, mystery, horror, survival, adventure, first-in-series

A Million Miles Away

by Lara Avery

Check it out on Goodreads!

*ARC received in exchange for honest review*

This title is available July 7th, 2015!

Cover~ C

I feel like its a pretty average cover. It doesn't do a fantastic job grabbing the reader's attention, but the picture is cute.

Plot~ B

When Kelsey's identical twin sister dies in a car crash, her world crashes. Kelsey finds herself a phantom in her own life, going through the motions without any feeling. Numb. That is she feels. Her parents are too wrapped up in their own grief to help her and her face is a constant reminder to everyone of Michelle, the dead girl. And Kelsey comes to learn that she never knew her sister at all.

After everything that has happened, it falls on Kelsey's shoulders to tell Michelle's boyfriend the news. The only problem is he's serving his first tour in Afghanistan. Kelsey has no way of getting in touch with him, that is until he video calls one night and Peter shows Kelsey a happiness that she hadn't seen in a long while. Kelsey realizes in that moment, Michelle is alive. Through Peter, Michelle's memory is well and Kelsey thrives on finding her sister again. He is the person who knew her most recently or at least was the person Michelle wanted to know her. Unable to break Peter's spirit, Kelsey assumes the role of Michelle to help Peter overcome his struggles overseas. But two wars rage on, in Afghanistan and in her heart; fore Kelsey finds herself changing and falling hard and fast for her dead sister's boyfriend.

Characters~ A

Kelsey is the queen bee, dance team captain, she's popular, got the the perfect boyfriend, perfect life. Everything changes once her twin dies. Kelsey morns, and searches for ways to cope after such a loss. She finds herself on a journey of discovering the sister she thought she knew through other people's eyes.

Michelle; Although she dies early on in the book, Michelle still plays a very large role in the book for all of the characters. Her death has a large impact on those around her and in a way her spirit lives on through Kelsey and Peter.

Peter is Michelle's boyfriend of three months (prior to her death). He is a soldier with a kind, passionate heart. His relationship with Michelle was short but the love was instantaneous; he felt the love with her within the few days the couple were able to see each other over the three months. The day Michelle died, he was deployed to Afghanistan and knew nothing of her death.

I found myself loving the characters because they were so genuine and raw.

Writing~ A

I read a few review on Goodreads prior to reading this, and it seemed a lot of people struggled to understand how Peter could have believed Kelsey was Michelle when he claimed to have loved Michelle. You should know the one you love ya know? I get where they are coming from, but then again, Michelle and Peter did not really have a relationship for that long of a period and during that time they were apart a lot due to Peter's military training. Peter may have said he loved her, but I am not entirely sure. 

It could be said that Kelsey was cruel to keep Michelle's death a secret. But I think I understand her reasoning. Peter is in a war zone. We even see some of the things he has to go through and how it affects him. He is struggling to keep his composure and Michelle is the only thing holding him together. Knowing what it feels like to lose her other half and feel unable to move on, Kelsey felt that if she told Peter, he would fall apart and his life would be taken in the process because he is so fragile due to the war.

On the other hand, it is a very cruel thing to drag out. But, I am sure that many of us have created a lie and the only way to keep the lie alive is to keep lying. As the lie continues, it grows and grows. In the end the hurt from the lie will be greater than it would have been to have just told the truth to begin with. Kelsey is coming from a good place, but in the end she was just being selfish by not letting her sister go. With Peter she is able to forget about being sad and missing her sister, and just have fun. She can pretend nothing happened and her sister is still alive.

Sometimes she knew she was secretly pretending Michelle was just on vacation. Or busy. Or asleep.

To me, Kelsey was real. Her emotions were so raw and clearly portrayed the feelings of losing a loved one. I cannot imagine the kind of heart break it would cause to lose your best friend, let alone your sister, your other half. It is that much worse for Kelsey because they were identical twins. Imagine looking in the mirror every day and seeing your dead sister. Horrible.

I am not a hug fan of the ending, but it was the right way for it to happen. I was hoping for a bit more emotional ride (as in more tears), but I am difficult when it comes to that in books. In the end, I was pleased with Kelsey's character progression. She took a path that I think was more suited for her, and I think Michelle taught her that.

Overall Rating~ 4 stars

I really have come to like this author's style. I will definitely look for her in the future!

My tags: military, romance, death, family, high-school, contemporary, love, sisters, relationships, lie, war, college