Category Archives: 5 Flames

BURNED
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Source: Library Loan

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (October 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416903550
ISBN-13: 978-1416903550

Raised in a religious — yet abusive — family, Pattyn Von Stratten starts asking questions — about God, a woman’s role, sex, love. She experiences the first stirrings of passion, but when her father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control. Pattyn is sent to live with an aunt in the wilds of Nevada to find salvation and redemption. What she finds instead is love and acceptance — until she realizes that her old demons will not let her go.

Where do you even start in describing such an emotional and deep book?  I had no idea what to expect in this story and I was in no way prepared for the roller coaster that my emotions would travel on with the journey through the book.


Pattyn was a girl who grew up in a religious family that took their beliefs to the extreme.  Not only were the beliefs so extreme, but her Father was horrible as well.  I couldn’t believe how much the family suffered with his abuse.  When Pattyn moves in with her Aunt for the summer, her life begins to change and so does her beliefs in God.  When she encounters Ethan, she knows she has found her ‘forever love’. Can they still have a love filled relationship when he returns to college and she has to return to her family? Can they survive the abuse of her father if he finds out about them?


I cried so much near the end of this book. I literally felt sickened by the lengths Pattyn’s father goes to.  My heart broke for Pattyn and Ethan.  I haven’t cried so much with an ending in a long time and this book opened up the water well of tears for me.  The ending left it open for hopefully a sequel and I hope the author starts writing it sooner rather than later.  

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

THE IRON KNIGHT
Iron Fey #4
Author: Julie Kagawa
Source: Publisher
*I received this ARC copy free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (October 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210361
ISBN-13: 978-0373210367

My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her.

My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

Just when I thought the story ended with The Iron Queen, author Julie Kagawa surprised her fans with a story to help ease our Ash addiction with The Iron Knight.  With the conclusion in The Iron Queen, fans of Ash and Meghan were left hoping for one more chance at a future for the two.  Well, the author did not disappoint with The Iron Knight.

I will start off by saying that The Iron Knight does take a bit of time to get into.  It starts rather slowly – even with Puck and his rambunctious ways – and takes a few chapters to really start enjoying the story.  Ash and Puck are on a journey to find the End of the World.  If Ash can succeed in finding it, he might have a chance at passing the final test called The Gauntlet to earn a human soul.  With a human soul, Ash would be able to fulfill his promise to Meghan of finding a way to be together again and living within the Iron Kingdom. 

Along the way, we also get some familiar faces to keep us going. Of course Grimalkin the cat is there to help keep their minds thinking and to just be a pain in the butt whenever he can. They also meet up with the Big Bad Wolf — yes that Big Bad Wolf — to help as well with the journey.  With a surprise character joining the fold as well, Ash finds himself second guessing his strength and decision on finding a way to receive a human soul. 

What I enjoyed the most about this book was the way they author gave the readers a conclusion worthy of fairytale legends.  There were obstacles thrown at the characters that are overcome, futures that can be changed, and past issues that are finally laid to rest.  Above all else, the author finally gives the readers of the series an ending that is truly called a Happily Ever After.

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD
Author: Kendare Blake
Source: Publisher
*I received this book fee of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen; First Edition edition (August 30, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765328658
ISBN-13: 978-0765328656

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas’s life. 

Do you know how long it has been since a book has sent chills up my spine with fear and suspense? I am still in awe of how this book achieved what so few books have done in the past for me.

Cas hunts ghosts that need to be put to rest using his Father’s athame.  His Father passed away after hunting a ghost and now Cas has been following in his footsteps in the hopes of one day putting the ghost to rest that killed him.  When Cas gets a request to put down Anna Dressed in Blood from an associate, he is intrigued and finds himself mysteriously pulled to the spirit of Anna.  Let me tell you my dear readers –Anna is one bad ass ghost!  She will swat you like a fly without even a second thought or breaking a ghostly sweat.  Cas is in for one hell of fight when he confronts Anna at her home and realizes that he is going to need some back up in dealing with her.  Enter Carmel, Thomas and Morfran to help save the day.  When  they try to figure out the source of Anna’s strength and the reason for her early death, they find out she is more than a haunting spirit.  They discover she can actually be a useful ally in the goal of killing a Voodoo Obeahman.

The author did an amazing job of describing all of the bone chilling details for this book.  I literally was on the edge of my seat and looked like a horror movie watcher yelling at the cast to get the hell out of that house!  My heart raced with each confrontation the characters had to face when a ghost appeared. I just new it was going to be bloody and painful.  What I didn’t expect was the way I felt about Anna.  I pitied her and wanted her to be alive again.  I wanted a happy ending for Anna and Cas.  What does happen is what needed to happen to finish the book, but I wanted more pages in this book so I could stay in their world a little longer!  I didn’t want the thrilling ride to end so soon.

I am so excited that there is going to be a sequel to this book in the future.  The ending that the author leaves you with is a hint at what is to come in the sequel and I can’t wait to see that journey revealed.  A fabulous new book that will keep your heart racing, your spine tingling, and listening closely at the things that go bump in the night.

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

VAMPIRE ACADEMY: A GRAPHIC NOVEL
Author: Richelle Mead, Leigh Dragoon, Emma Vieceli
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Razorbill; Original edition (August 23, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595144293
ISBN-13: 978-1595144294

After two years on the run, best friends Rose and Lissa are caught and returned to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a private high school for vampires and half-bloods. It’s filled with intrigue, danger – and even romance. Enter their dark, fascinating world through a new series of 144-page full-color graphic novels. The entire first Vampire Academy novel has been adapted for book one by Leigh Dragoon and overseen by Richelle Mead, while the beautiful art of acclaimed British illustrator Emma Vieceli brings the story to life.

I picked up this graphic novel for two reasons.  One, I wanted to expand my reading experience and step out of the box into a new genre.  My daughter is always gushing about graphic novels, so I finally caved on one.  Two, I wanted to refresh my memory a bit about the series, since I have only read the first book in the Vampire Academy series.  I figured this book would bring me up to speed so I can finish it and know where things left off.  What I didn’t expect was how much I would enjoy it!


Now my daughter thought it was too comic book themed, but I actually liked the colored drawings and the way the characters came alive on the page.  I finally had images to put to the faces of the characters from Vampire Academy.  I also got my refresher course that I was looking for!  As soon as I was about 1/3 of the way through the novel, I started to remember everything from the actual book.  It seemed to stay on track with the original and packed it up nicely in a shorter version.


While, I might never join on the band wagon of reading graphic novels obsessively, I would read ones in this series again!  If you are a fan of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, then the graphic novel needs to be read by you as well!

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

BETWEEN
Author: Jessica Warman
Source: Publisher
*I received this ARC copy free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Ages 12-17
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Walker Childrens (August 2, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802721826
ISBN-13: 978-0802721822

Elizabeth Valchar–pretty, popular, and rich–wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday on the yacht where she’d been celebrating with her closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, she finds her own drowned body is hitting the side of the boat. Liz is dead.

In her regular life, Liz was a runner. It wasn’t abnormal for her to run 8-10 miles per day. But as memories from closer to her death begin to surface, Liz finds that she’d been running much more than normal, and that she’d all but stopped eating. Liz’s mother, who died when Liz was nine, had battled with anorexia as well, and those around her worried Liz was following in her mother’s footsteps. But something more sinister was consuming Liz from the inside out. . . . 

Death. Ghosts. Popularity. Intrigue and Mystery. 


These are just a few words to sum up this new book by author Jessica Warman.  When I saw the cover, I was instantly intrigued to find out more.  When I read the summary, I was interested in the story.  I wanted to know more about the characters and the experience the book was going to tell within the pages.


Liz has always been popular and pretty.  She has a great boyfriend and people who love her.  When she discovers a body in the water next to her Father’s boat, she realizes she is looking at herself dead in the water.  She doesn’t remember what has happened and can’t remember much about her life.  Then Alex appears on the scene with her.  He tells her what he knows in small portions at a time.  He tells her that she is on a journey that she needs to complete.  Liz knows she remembers Alex, but she doesn’t remember everything about him until she ventures further into the investigation of her death. Secrets will be revealed, along with self discovery of herself. 


I absolutely loved the writing of this book.  I felt like I was on the journey with Alex and Liz throughout each chapter.  I cried and I cheered for Liz as she tried to figure out the puzzle that has no picture to help her complete it. I wanted to hug Alex and comfort him as well when we were shown glimpse’s of his past and family. 


The ending was beautifully written as well and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.  Now that I have discovered the great writing of this new to me author, I can’t wait to see what else she has to offer to her readers!

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS