Category Archives: 1 Flame

TRIS & IZZIE
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Source: Amazon Vine
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: EgmontUSA (October 11, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1606841734
ISBN-13: 978-1606841730

A modern retelling of the German fairytale “Tristan and Isolde”, Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until — she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

I wasn’t familiar with the fairytale of Tristan and Isolde, but the summary intrigued me when it said that it involved love potions and falling for the wrong person.  I was thrilled to step away from the normal paranormal of vampires, shape shifters and mermaids for a bit and step into a book involving magic and teen angst.  I have to say though that this book is not as great as that cover unfortunately. The cover is so pretty with all the flower petals and shirtless guy, but the reading material inside is less than memorable.


With not much background to base an emotional tie to the characters on, I wasn’t really invested in the story enough to enjoy what was going on.  The main character is at times naive and predictable,  but the path that the author takes her on really isn’t explained well enough to understand why she is on this path.  The secondary characters were just as much unappealing as the main character.  The bad guy is the cliched bad guy that makes you cringe whenever he speaks from predictability and not evil creepiness. 


Overall, this book was a disappointment to me.  The cover was basically the only thing I enjoyed about this book.  Not one I would reread again in the future.

SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL
Author: Vanessa Marlow (Cheryl Holt)
Source: Personal Purchase

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin; First Edition edition (April 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312364776
ISBN-13: 978-0312364779

Meg White leads a comfortable life as a chef in Portland.  Nothing prepared her for a man like Jordan Blair, the rich, magnetic stranger who seduces her and introduces her to a life of luxury–and sin.  Obsessed with Jordan and drawn to his dark sexual kinks, Meg allows him to transform her into a sophisticated beauty with no ties to her past.  But soon she’s trapped in a web of lust and sexual depravity.  She doesn’t know whether the man who’s consumed her life is good or evil, whether her nights are filled with pleasure or pain–or how she’ll ever survive.

My first impression of this book from reading the summary was that is was going to be an intense and sexual erotica to read.  While the sex at times tended to be kinky and unnerving at times, the overall dominance of Jordan was downright appalling. 


I have never been squeamish about reading an erotica novel.  Heck, the more sexy fun in a romance the better because I am an adult and can handle reading about it.  When you venture into the realm of Jordan Blair though, be prepared to enter a dark and violent life.  Jordan was a horrible but attractive man.  He wanted things done a certain way and you had better listen to him.  He wasn’t above punishing the women if they didn’t do as he asked.  That’s fine when you are reading am erotic book, but the way he went about it was just stomach turning.  He whipped her with a belt for no reason at all except for voicing her feelings to him.  He would drug her and make her do things that she never wanted to do including sex with strangers and having it all videotaped.  When she calls her ex boyfriend to rescue her though, Jordan takes it a step further and kills the man just so Meg will have to stay with him.  The whole time Meg is suffering through all of this, Jordan convinces others that she is losing her mind and needs to be committed. 


I was not a fan of this book.  I almost didn’t want to finish this story due to the violence and sexual acts that Jordan puts Meg through.  This book is definitely not for the squeamish readers.  If you want to step into a suspenseful erotica were the relationship is based on sex, violence and women degradation, then this is that book.  I unfortunately will never pick this book up again.

HER AND ME AND YOU
Author: Lauren Strasnick
Source: Gifted

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (August 23, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416982671
ISBN-13: 978-1416982678

 I met Fred first.

Fred: Hot. Enigmatic. Alex’s first friend in her lonely new town. Maybe her first…everything.

I met Adina the following Monday.

Adina: Fred’s twin sister. Cold. Troubled. Trouble.

I kissed him.

She pressed her mouth to my mouth.

People warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, but Alex is drawn to them. She wants to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting with this book, but what did happen was not it.  I was expecting some angst filled romance between and boy and a girl.  Throw in a psycho sister and you get the mix of this book.

I felt a little dizzy trying to keep up with everything in this book.  One minute we are reading a sweet scene between Alex and Fred, then his weirdo sister comes and wrecks everything with her attitude and psycho behavior.  What was so confusing though was when his sister Adina would change her tune at a drop of a hat and pretend everything was fine with no explanation of what caused the reactions.  Add on the fact that Fred keeps defending her and not accepting that something is wrong with Adina and your head will be getting that dizzy feeling as well.

I am also finding myself agreeing with another book reviewer in the fact that this book had real no purpose.  Yes, that seems a little harsh but I like my books to have a plot point involved.  There were so many unanswered questions involved with this book that I felt it to be incomplete.  It felt like I was missing the beginning and the end of the book and was left with only the middle.  The book ends in a way to where there is no real closure for the reader which just leaves more unanswered questions.

If I had a choice to read this book again, I would not read it a second time. Why waste my time on a book that causes more questions and has no real storyline to keep my attention?

 

WITCH & WIZARD
Author(s): James Patterson
and Gabrielle Charbonnet
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (December 14, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316036242
ISBN-13: 978-0316036245

The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they’d never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents–and maybe the world?

First off, let me say that I am a fan of the Maximum Ride series even though the last book was a let down.  So I thought that I would give this series a go and see if I would enjoy reading about wizards and witches.  Why didn’t I take other reviews more seriously before purchasing this book?  Why did I not listen to fellow blogger’s on the disappoint I would feel in this different world created by James Patterson?


The opening chapters were my favorite because it held the most excitement.  I was curious to what this New Order and The One was.  Why were these two siblings being captured and treated the way they were?  Unfortunately, that is where my excitement for the book ended as well.  We have no back history for the siblings as it starts out with their capture.  I couldn’t make a connection with them and I felt cheated on many things.  This book had such potential, but fell flat in this readers head.  I wanted so much more than what this authors’ short chapters offered.  I wanted history for the characters, secrets revealed at better points in the book, and an overall feeling of satisfaction when the ending arrived.  


While the author stays true to his normal short chapters and constant story movement, I just couldn’t being myself to enjoy the story.  From now on, I think I will just stay with his Maximum Ride series, but he can burn his bridge for the Witch & Wizard series.


MY RATING: