Category Archives: 5 Flames

FORBIDDEN
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Source: Library Loan

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (June 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442419954
ISBN-13: 978-1442419957

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

First of all, I am going to say that this book is not for everyone.  You have to have an open mind and be willing to venture down the Taboo path this story creates. With that in mind, if you decide to read a book like this, you will be floored at the emotions and impact this book will bring to your heart.


After reading reviews on this book, I was still a little hesitant on reading it.  I never thought I would find myself reading a book about siblings falling in love.  Yes it is taboo, but that is not really the reason I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to read it.  Every time I thought about a brother and sister falling in love, my mind couldn’t comprehend something like that happening.  Yet, as soon as I started reading this book, I was pulled into the forbidden relationship that the author created.  I felt that Lochie and Maya were each others soul mates.  


I can’t believe how much this family went through and how Lochie and Maya were the strings holding it together.  I hated their Mother for everything she had done and was still doing to her children.  I hated the fact that two teenagers had to give up a normal life to take care of their younger siblings and step in as Mother and Father to keep them in one place as a family.  I ached in my heart knowing that their love would never be acceptable, but I held out hope for each of them. 


My heart shattered near the end of the book though.  I knew it was going to happen, but I still could not believe what the author created for the ending. I was outraged, sad, and heartbroken for them.  I wanted to toss the book that I spent all night reading across the room and stomp it into the ground like the author did with my heart.  That is how you know a book has made an impact on you and you know will always stay in your mind. 


If you can open your mind and venture into the world of taboo sibling love, then I can’t stress enough how much of an impact this book will have on you! 

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

IF I DIE
Soul Screamers #5
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210329
ISBN-13: 978-0373210329

No one wants to be this teacher’s pet . . .

Soul Screamers: The last thing you hear before you die.

Just when I thought my heart would collapse from the torture of My Soul To Steal, the author ripped my heart out of my chest and fed it to the Hellion’s for a new chew toy in If I Die.  Talk about an emotional roller coaster of a series!  I have read about Banshee’s, Hellion’s, Reaper’s, Demons Breath and now love that can break your heart into pieces.  The author brought it for this book and knocked me down hard!


I am having such a hard time writing a review on this book!  Everything I want to say or point out could be taken as a spoiler alert.  I do not want to ruin anything for everyone. You will laugh, you will yell and you will cry — sometimes all at the once.  Kaylee has grown so much from book one and she has grown into a heroine to be proud of.  She has backbone, she has love and most of all she has the strength to carry everyone’s pain when they need her.  


Have you chosen Team Tod or Team Nash?  Well, I thought I had until I read this book.  Be prepared to have shocking discoveries and heartache as you turn each page.  There are decisions to be made that can change the outcome for all characters involved that you won’t believe until you read about it.  Secrets are revealed from numerous characters leaving quite a fallout on others in the book.  Favorites of the series return, along with deaths to some you won’t expect.  You will be cheering for characters you didn’t even know you wanted to cheer for. 


All I can say is, If I Die before I wake– thank goodness I got to read this book first!  


MY RATING:

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

MY SOUL TO STEAL
Soul Screamers #4
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (December 21, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210272
ISBN-13: 978-0373210275

SUMMARY:

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have to say, without a doubt, THIS book in the series has to be my favorite so far!  Everything that has happened previously in the series has come to a head in My Soul To Steal.  At least everything that involves Nash and Kaylee’s relationship.  If hellions, death and drug abuse was not enough to throw at this angst filled couple, then a supernatural ex-girlfriend could be the final straw.

I loved how the author paused the relationship of  Nash and Kaylee in this book.  It was needed after everything that has happened in the first three books.  They both have some things that needed to be worked out and they couldn’t do that together without pretending everything was okay.  I felt such misery for Nash as he struggled for a second chance with Kaylee.  I hurt deeply for Kaylee when the things going through her mind about Sabine might actually be true.  I wanted to cry with her in bed and beat the crap out of Sabine at the same time.  I wanted Nash to wake up and realize what the hell he was doing to Kaylee while he tried a friendship with Sabine.  Most of all, I wanted to crawl up in Tod’s lap and ask him to hold me through the whole story.  I wanted him to be my Knight in Shining Armor and protect me from the emotional roller coaster the author was taking me on! Why did she have to pull at my very fine heart strings throughout this ENTIRE book?

If you have been following along with the reviews so far, you know that Kaylee never has a normal week.  She is far from normal anyway.  Yet, I kept hoping the author would give her some peace in this book.  The peace Kaylee finds in this book is finally a backbone.  I cheered for the way she finally stood up to people and put her foot down.  I loved how she protected her new friend Alec and how she finally stood up to everyone who has been afraid she is too fragile to handle things.  I was actually shocked to find that Nash had a backbone as well when he finally reached his breaking point of trying to win Kaylee’s trust and heart.

Again, this has to be my favorite book of the series so far and I can’t wait to dive into the next book. After all of the suspense that has building throughout the series, I can only imagine what the climatic story is going to be for the next book.  If it is anything as thrilling as this one, I might just have to ask Kaylee for her backbone so I can make it through the entire story in one piece.

MY RATING:

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

MY SOUL TO KEEP
Soul Screamers #3
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (June 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210051
ISBN-13: 978-0373210053

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else…
 

Wow!  I didn’t know that the series would just keep getting better and better.  I was surprised by the supernatural take on addiction to drugs.  Who would have thought to use Demon’s Breath as a drug to get high?

In the third book in the series, Kaylee and Nash discover that someone is selling Demon’s Breath to teens at their school as a new drug called Frost.  What the teens don’t know is that Demon’s Breath is not only addicting, but it is also fatal and brain damaging.  If you take too much you can start to have delusions permanently and even die.  With the help of Tod and other familiar faces from previous books, Nash and Kaylee need to figure out who is behind the sale of Demon’s Breath and stop it before it spreads further.  What Kaylee doesn’t expect is how easily someone close to her becomes addicted to it and covers it up.

My heart broke with this book when the reveal was given to the reader.  I picked up on the clues and even knew it was going to happen, but it didn’t stop my heart from breaking at the pain it caused for Kaylee and for the reader.  I didn’t know how the author was going to redeem this person and I couldn’t figure out what this meant for the main characters of the book.  With the addition of new players in the fight for souls, you will find yourself confused on who to cheer for because you start to like all of them even more. I even fell a little harder for sweet Tod when he goes corporeal and defends Kaylee near the end of the book.

I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the next book! I need to know how the fallout from this book is going to work out in the next one.  I need more Nash, Tod, Kaylee and Emma!  A series that still grips me from page one up until the end!

MY RATING:

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

MY SOUL TO TAKE
Soul Screamers #1
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Personal Purchase

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen; Original edition (August 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210035
ISBN-13: 978-0373210039

She doesn’t see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next.

After receiving the 5th book in the series for review, I knew I would have to start from the beginning to get a feel for this series.  So I sat down with the first book, My Soul To Take, and I LOVED it!  I wanted to scream like Kaylee because it ended.  What a fresh new take in the paranormal realm for readers to explore.  Who thought banshee’s–spelled bean sidhe’s–could be so intriguing and suspenseful. 


At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like reading about bean sidhe.  I mean, most of the lore I have heard about them is women in long, flowing dresses with long hair, who go around screaming.  They liked to follow around mournful people and cause pain with their screams to the point of death for the human.  I couldn’t figure out how an author was going to make this a good thing.  Just like Kaylee though, I learned that the lore is wrong in this world created by Rachel Vincent.  Kaylee is a bean sidhe who can tell when someone is getting ready to die.  Yes, she must scream for the person, but to other bean sidhe, the scream is a beautiful soul song.  


What was surprising was the fact that men can be bean sidhe as well.  Nash was a wonderful counterpart to Kaylee and the romance was sweet.  I fell in love the first time Kaylee met him at the club.  When he sings to her in the alley my heart fluttered with romantic anticipation.  Emma was a fun friend as well for Kaylee and plays a major part in the story.  The side characters of Brendan and Val were great as well.  Since Kaylee’s Father is in Ireland, he left Kaylee in the care of his brother Brendan. While Brendan was carefree and fun, he also has secrets that Kaylee discovers.  


I have to say that besides the main characters of the book, Tod the reaper was one of my favorites as well.  His revelations near the end of the book was a shock and I know I should have seen that coming!  I hope he is included in the future books as well! 


I am so glad to have started this series and I can’t wait for more!  Thankfully, I have the whole series in my hands so I can keep reading what happens next!


MY RATING:

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