The Last Dragonslayer

What a quirky little book! I picked it up because of the cover and found a little gem  of a novel. It is the tale of Jennifer Strange who lives in a world where magic is disappearing. Magic is regulated by the government and it is becoming weaker and weaker as time goes on. Jennifer is left running Kazam Mystical Arts Management at almost 16. The cast of characters who live in this place are indescribable. Each one is more ridiculous than the next. Jennifer finds she is the Last Dragonslayer and is supposed to kill the last dragon on Sunday- which will start a war between the two neighboring towns. She doesn't want to kill the noble beast and works to find a way to save it. Little does she know the master plan. This book is filled with hilarious side stories. It makes comment on the commercialism that rules our world today. War and it's folly are also tackled in a crazy way. Jennifer is a great character who tries to do the right thing even if she isn't sure what the right thing is. I totally enjoyed this book and look forward to the character reappearing in the future, however; this book stands alone. No loose ends- oh, except for a couple of dragons flying over the town... but that is a story for another day. If you're in the mood for a little adventure, humor and magic, you will totally enjoy this book! Quark! Happy reading my friends!

Order of Darkness

All I ever learned about the kings of England, I learned from Philippa Gregory novels. Oh, and The Tudors. Oh, and Henry the 8th was not as hot as Jonathan Rhys Meyers. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw she had written some YA historical fiction. This is the story of Luca, Isolde, Ishraq and Freize, who meet up under difficult circumstances and wind up as uneasy friends. Isolde is sent to a nunnery after the death of her father. (her brother has nefarious reasons for this) Luca is an Inquirer for the church and is sent to the nunnery to investigate the nuns who seemed to be going mad. Freize is Luca's servant, and may not be as 'dumb' as he appears. Ishraq is Isolde's companion of Moorish descent. She has skills no girl of her time ought to have. When Isolde and Ishraq are accused of being witches and about to be burned, Luca and Freize help them get away. Luca doesn't know what to make of these girls, he is sworn to the church but finds himself drawn to Isolde. On their journey, they come across a village that thinks it has captured a werewolf. Luca is asked to investigate and determine the fate of the wolf. Freize and Ishraq figure out what is going on and attempt to save the poor animal. This is a book filled with the superstitions of the medieval world, where women cannot speak their mind and people believe evil is behind every unnatural occurence. The four characters each must figure out their place in this world and have to decide if they want to stick together. I love historical fiction and Gregory is a master of her craft. I look forward to continuing on this journey with them. So it is with reluctance I leave the world of 1453 and their werewolves  return to 2013 with mine. lol. My book pile doesn't seem to be shrinking and spring break is 3 weeks away but I'll try and survive. Happy reading my friends!

The Evolution of Mara Dyer

This is one disturbing book. You never really know who to trust- even the narrator appears to be a little off her rocker. Is she crazy? Can she kill with her mind? Is she really seeing her dead ex-boyfriend? All these and many more questions are raised in this sequel to the fantastic-The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. The cast of characters are back, dreamy Noah, wonderful brothers, Daniel and Joseph, quirky friend Jamie and the evil Jude. Mara wakes up in a psychiatric ward (read the first one to see why) to find her parents have committed her. She is determined to get out to protect them from Jude. Only one problem- Jude is dead and no one believes her that she has seen him. Even Noah, who is always on her side, is unsure of whether or not she can be trusted. And Noah has issues of his own. He is a healer who is determined to cause himself pain, just so he can feel something. The only thing he knows is how much he loves Mara. He will go to any lengths to save her, even getting himself thrown in lockdown to be with her. This is a bridge book and leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Who are these gifted kids? Why is Mara having flashbacks to India? How is Jude still alive? And what happened to Noah? Mara will have to play a dangerous game to resolve all these questions. Whew! Asylums have always scared me- evil doctors up to no good, crazy patients with unpredictable mood swings. So if you're up for a good psychological scare- this is the book for you. Happy reading my friends!

The Hunt

Wow. If you love the Hunger Games and Vampires, you will devour The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda.  The world is taken over by vampires- how- who knows, not important. They have rounded up the last remaining 'Hepers' aka Humans and are about to have a Hunt. This is where the chosen few get to hunt the last remaining humans and have a feast. Our hero (maybe- jury is still out) Gene is a Heper in hiding. He lives among the vampires as one of them, he goes to school, he's on the swim team, he has fake fangs etc. He has a very specific way he must act and bathe and groom in order to stay under the radar. When the Hunt comes up, he has no desire to be chosen. I mean, what are the chances? Of course, his chances are 100 percent He is taken to the compound to await the Hunt. Low and behold the girl of his dreams is also chosen, only she's a vamp- or is she? As they train and await the Hunt, Gene must find water or die of thirst. So during the day he heads out to the Dome to get some of the Hepers water. He thinks they are no better than cows, bred for food, but boy is he wrong. He is surprised to find they can talk and read and use weapons. But he feels NO compassion for them, he doesn't even warn them of what is to come. I found that so interesting. He is willing to sacrifice them without  care in the world. It made it a little hard to get on his side to tell the truth. Then the twists begin and Gene is driven to actions beyond his comfort zone and has to decide what he is going to do- save himself and his girl which means sacrificing his fellow humans or help the humans escape. Cliffhanger alert-a trilogy is a comin'. I totally enjoyed this one and couldn't put it down. So fascinated by the less than heroic hero, but I guess he still has time- or does he. Enjoy the Hunt my friends and happy reading!

Crash

I have had the chance to see Lisa McMann at a book signing. She could totally hang out with me and my friends. That being said, she really knows how to write a fast paced book that teen readers will love. Crash is the story of Jules Demarco and Sawyer Angotti whose families are bitter rivals in the pizza biz. Sawyer and Jules were best friends until seventh grade when their parents found out and forbid them from seeing each other anymore. This breaks Jules heart as she misses her friend. When she starts to see a vision of a fiery explosion and nine body bags, she is traumatized to see Sawyer's face in one of them. She doesn't know what to do, if she tells anyone about this vision, they will lock her up. She has to find a way to prevent the accident from happening before she loses Sawyer forever. Unfortunately, Sawyer doesn't believe her, and she is desperate to save those nine people. On top of all this drama, both families have horrible secrets they are keeping that are impacting these teenagers' lives. This is book one of a series and leaves off almost where it begins. I like the premise, and kids will love the quick pace and loads of action. Oh and the love story ain't half bad either! So Lisa McMann, if you ever read this, you are so invited to join our book club and hang out. We'd love to have you. Onward to the book pile and happy reading my friends!

Shadows

 Alex thinks Tom is dead. Tom thinks Alex is dead. The Changed are everywhere. Rule is not the town Alex thinks it is. No one can be trusted. No one will go and look for Tom. So Alex decides to sneak out on her own to find him. Unfortunately, there are many deadly obstacles standing in her way. She will be betrayed by those who said they would help her. When she is captured by the Changed, she must use all her survival skills to survive amid the horrors she sees. Tom is doing everything he can to get to her. He meets up with various people on the way and really does not have anyone he can truly trust. This is book two of the Ashes trilogy by Isla Bick. It is very gruesome and gory and at times disturbing. What do you do if the world is turned upside down and there is no one you can trust? How do you choose who to save and who to let die? How strong is your sense of self preservation going to be and what will you do to survive? Tom and Alex cling to the thought of each other to get through the horrifying times they are living in. But when they are finally within sight of each other, what choice will they each make? Save yourself or save the one you love? As this is not the final book, nothing is resolved and a huge fight is brewing. Tom is in despair. Chris may be dead. Lena may be changing and where the heck is Alex? Did she survive the mine? Stay tuned. If you like an action packed series and don't mind a little (a lot) of blood and gore. (Think smarter than average zombies) then you may like this series. Start with book one of course or you will be totally lost. I look forward to seeing this one through to the end. Happy reading my friends !