Mini-Reviews: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Title: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
Author: Lish McBride
Series: Necromancer, #1
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 4 / 5

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Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he's doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

This mini-review will be on the short and sweet side, as I don’t have a whole lot to say about Hold Me Closer, Necromancer beyond saying I really enjoyed it. I was hooked right from the first few chapters, and I loved the blend of humour and snark throughout. I literally laughed out loud more than a few times while I was reading, and I love when I find a book that can maintain that level of humour throughout the entire story. The book never took itself too seriously, and it made the humour feel more genuine and appealing. Also, I really liked four of the main characters – Samhain (Sam), Frank, Ramon and Brooke. I loved the dynamic between the four of them, and I really wish the entire book was from just their perspectives. This leads me onto my one gripe, which was a bit too much POV switching. I prefer connecting with a few characters really well, rather than lots of different characters, but this didn’t impact that much on how I felt about the book overall. Oh, and for extra brownie points? I noticed those Soundgarden song lyrics! (Yeah, yeah, alright, easy to get on my good side, but... *shrugs* oh, well!) Overall, I really enjoyed Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for an Urban Fantasy book that’s just pure fun to read.

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 4 / 5

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Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was so much better than I had expected it to be. It takes a different approach to vampires, and with all the vampire books floating around these days, it was so refreshing to read a story that seemed quite unique in comparison to books I’ve read previously. Technically, this is the second book I’ve read by Holly Black: the first book I read was in collaboration with another author. I really enjoyed her writing style here, and I was wrapped up in the story really quickly. Plus, the world-building was awesome! I love the concept of Coldtowns, and it was really fascinating to see how they came to be and how their presence influences the rest of the world for both humans and vampires alike.

The characters were really good, and I liked Tana’s narration. Seeing the world unfold from her perspective was awesome, but if I’m honest, her personality didn’t jump off the pages as much as I would have hoped it would. Both Aidan and Gavriel were interesting characters, but Gavriel intrigued me a bit more. I liked that he was unpredictable, yet kind of sweet, in a completely insane sort of way. Actually, he reminded me a little of Myrnin from the Morganville Vampire series. Hey, not complaining! I really like Myrnin!

There was one little pit-fall, and that was the ending, or, more specifically, the final two chapters. While, yes, I did really like how things concluded overall, I’m a little iffy on a few things, and they’ve dimmed the overall great-book-euphoria. Namely, that was Tana’s final decision. To me, it just didn’t feel like it belonged in the context of the world that was built. I don’t think it was the right choice. Also, the ending is one I would have expected from the first book in a series, and I was under the impression that The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was a standalone? The ending, and it being a standalone, doesn’t really gel for me. Other than this, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was entertaining throughout, had a great writing style with engaging and entertaining characters. I’d highly recommend giving it a go if you’re a bit tired of the usual same-old-same-old vampire books that seem to be everywhere these days.

Review: Until I Die by Amy Plum

Title: Until I Die
Author: Amy Plum
Series: Revenants, #2
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 4 / 5
Setting: Paris, France
Pages: 353

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My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Kate has chosen to leave the comfort and safety of her human life in order to join Vincent in the dangerous supernatural world he inhabits. For his part, he has sworn to go against his very nature and resist the repeat deaths that are his fate as a revenant - even though it will bring him immeasurable suffering.

Desperate to help him, Kate's search for answers takes her from the glamourous streets of Paris to the city's squalid underbelly. But when she stumbles across a secret that could help to overthrow their enemies for ever, Kate unwittingly puts everyone she loves at risk. And puts herself in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, not as a bystander... but as a target.

-- As per synopsis on my paperback

Review: Die for Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die for Me
Author: Amy Plum
Series: Revenants, #1
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.


When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.


Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Straight off, I suspect my general indifference toward Die for Me is down to timing. Before I get into the review, I’ve already ordered the second book in the series, and yes I plan on reading it! Ok, back to the review. Everything was either just ok or good. Nothing really blew me away, and I don’t know if I’m becoming more nit-picky, or if some books are becoming very repetitive, but little things bothered me more than they really should!

Kate’s parents died in a car accident and her sister decides that both of them should move to Paris to live with their grandparents. Kate takes a long time to settle in, even though she is fluent in the language and familiar with the country. Since both sisters are fluent, I don’t understand why they were signed up to an American and not a French school. At Kate’s age, she should be just starting lycée for her bac’s, so I don’t fully buy the reason that was given in the story.

Everything involving school and education was cut out of the book, and this just seems very strange to me. At sixteen, school is a pretty big part of a teen’s life, so I feel at least a little emphasis should be put on it to make the characters believable. Kate showed no effort to integrate only when it comes to Vincent and the other revenants.

I couldn’t fully empathise with Kate or connect with her. I’m very character focused, and it’s a bit weird when I connect with the secondary characters more than the main characters. Jules was much more interesting and we didn’t get to see much of him. I thought Kate was a little too self-absorbed and full of self-praise. She congratulates herself on her decisions quite often which I found a little weird. I understand what she is going through, but I felt it was a little overdone and that ended up pushing me away rather than helping me feel any emotion toward her.

Something that bothered me, and I couldn't shake it off: Kate was locked in a room in a strange house, yet she falls asleep?! My reaction would not be along the lines of ‘Ohh lookie, a nice comfy pillow, I’ll just have a nap instead of screaming my guts out or trying to break down the door to escape! Such a good idea! I’m glad I thought of it, mmkay?’ It’s these things that didn’t help me connect with her at all. I can deal with far-fetched! But this was a stretch too far even for me.

Vincent wasn’t much better, he felt like a shadow character and I didn’t see much depth to him at all. The romance between him and Kate was a bit dull and lacklustre. I love when a romance feels organic and grows naturally, but I didn’t get that sense here. I didn’t feel much of a connection between the two, and I think I need more convincing of their real intentions and feelings. It’s great to be told about their love, but it’s a complete other thing to believe it and feel it!

Die for Me is set in Paris but I didn’t get any sense of the city or country at all. I could change any of the streets or building names and it could turn into any other European city. It doesn’t have that French vibe I was hoping to see. The characters that are French didn’t seem very authentically French either.

The Revenants. So, I think I have this straight: they are resurrecting-zombie-guardian angel-ghosts? Well, I can honestly say I have never read anything quite like them before! On the other hand, it feels like too much is crammed into one creature. I don’t understand why a zombie would want to repeatedly kill themselves to save a humans life. It’s describes like a compulsion to do it, but I had one of those “Huh?” moments when I read it.

I’m conflicted. I like spacing similar sounding books out as much as I can. I just read Life Eternal before I started Die for Me. Both books have versions of zombies, and French-speaking characters. One is set in Montreal and the other is set in Paris. So I feel a little Frenched-out at the minute in honesty! This was totally my fault, as I expected Life Eternal to be set in Maine like the first book in the series, not Canada, and I’d already committed to reading Die for Me next.

I’m trying to come up with the things I loved or adored about the book, and I’m struggling a little. Everything that happens sort of falls into the same framework that we see constantly in the YA paranormal genre. The book has that wonderful addictive quality that makes you keep reading, and it did spark my curiosity. I hope the second book turns out better, just like Life Eternal did, and I’ll use it as a better guide if I actually will love the series after all.

Review: Life Eternal by Yvonne Woon

Title: Life Eternal
Author: Yvonne Woon
Series: Dead Beautiful, #2
Format: Paperback
My rating: 4.5 / 5

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Renee Winters has changed. When she looks in the mirror, a beautiful girl with an older, sadder face stares back. Her condition has doctors mystified, but Renee can never reveal the truth: she died last May, and was brought back to life by the kiss of her Undead soul mate, Dante Berlin.

Now, her separation from Dante becomes almost unbearable. His second life is close to an end, and each passing day means one less that she will spend with the boy who shares her soul.

Just when Renee has almost given up hope, she learns of the Nine Sisters--brilliant scholars who, according to legend, found a way to cheat death. She can't shake the feeling that they are somehow connected to her dreams, strange visions that hint at a discovery so powerful, and so dangerous, that some will stop at nothing to protect it.

Renee thought she knew the truth about life and death. But there is a secret woven through history that holds the only hope for Dante and Renee. Unless they find answers soon, their time together is doomed to be cut short.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I can’t believe the transformation! I read Dead Beautiful recently, and I was on the fence on whether I want to continue the series. I really liked the idea behind the undead, and this is what eventually swayed me to give book two a chance. I haven’t come across anything similar to it before and it really appealed to me. The big problem was half of the book reminded me of a certain saga beginning with “T”. I’m so glad to say Life Eternal was so much better than Dead Beautiful! It broke away from the familiar and the author completely ran with her own ideas and built on the unique things she created in the first book.

Renee is back at her grandfather’s house in Massachusetts for the summer break. After the events that happened at the end of Dead Beautiful, she is different. Her senses are dull; she has little appetite and is sleeping like the dead. (*grins* sorry, had to do that) Renee has to transfer to a new academy in Montreal – St. Clément – after her grandfather is brought back to take over as headmaster at Gottfried Academy, and it is to only accept Undead students.

The story has continued on in Life Eternal, introducing new concepts and challenges to the overall story. I loved the introduction of the nine sisters and how that theme was slowly incorporated. We gain a lot of additional information, and the story focuses more on Renee and establishing her as a character, with Dante taking a slightly lesser role. We are introduced to new characters as well, and it allows us to see a different side to Renee. I really connected with her, and I could understand her viewpoints and why she chose the things she did.

Renee completely came into her own. She is in love with Dante which is never in doubt, but she is objective. She doesn’t automatically believe everything she learns; she questions things and uses her own judgement and beliefs as a baseline. It’s awesome to see this in a YA novel, or heck, in any novel! It came completely out of the blue as I wasn’t expecting her to have grown so much since Dead Beautiful.

I loved the ending! I doubted everything and questioned everybody, and I really liked the way things wrapped up. There is a cliff-hanger, but I didn’t find it terribly bad – as I said in another review, I think I’m becoming numb to them as they happen so often now!

Second books in trilogies are often associated with “middle-book-syndrome” and used as a bridge between the beginning and the end. Life Eternal doesn’t suffer, and I think it blew Dead Beautiful away, it’s so much better. I highly recommend giving this series a chance, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that after just reading the first book. I was so surprised to see a change, I loved it.

Review: Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle

Title: Donners of the Dead
Author: Karina Halle
Series: Standalone
Format: eBook, owned
My rating: 4 / 5

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***A Standalone Horror Romance***

A note about this book: Donners of the Dead is set in 1851 – couples were often thrust into marriage together with short courtships, racism was widespread and not overly frowned upon, and women had little to no rights. What wouldn't fly in today's day and age was unfortunately the norm back then - it is worth keeping that in mind when reading this book.

Jake McGraw was unlike anyone I’d ever known. He was brash, rude, unapologetic and arrogant; chauvinistic, close-minded, and terribly stubborn. He was built like a tree, tall with a hard chest and wide shoulders and hands that looked like they could wrestle a bear. He was a cigar-chomping, scruffy-faced, beast of a man. I was pretty sure I hated him. And I know he hated me. But among the flesh-eating monsters in these snow-capped mountains, he was the only thing keeping me alive

The year is 1851 and pioneers in search of California gold are still afraid to travel on the same route as the tragic Donner party did years before. When the last wagon train to go into the Sierra Nevada mountains fails to arrive at their destination, Eve Smith, an 18-year old half-native girl with immense tracking skills is brought along with the search party, headed by an enigmatic former Texas Ranger, Jake McGraw.

What they find deep in the dangerous snow-covered terrain is a terrifying consequence of cannibalism, giving new meaning to the term “monster.” While the search party is slowly picked off, one by one, Eve must learn to trust Jake, who harbors more than a few secrets of his own, in order to survive and prevent the monstrosities from reaching civilization.

***This is NOT New Adult***

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

"There are only monsters inside of angels and angels inside of monsters. Choose wisely.”

In each book Karina Halle writes, in particular her horror novels, there are usually a couple of scenes that are etched into your brain and will refuse to leave long after you finish the book, and Donners of the Dead is no exception. It takes her usual level of horror and adds zombies and stomach-churning cannibalism in all its gory glory.

This book chilled me to the bone, and I think it’s some of her most terrifying writing yet. I love when an author takes a topic and completely runs with it and doesn’t hold back on anything.

Eve Smith is our narrator for this terrifying read. She is a half-native American, half-white young woman of eighteen, who has been entrusted into the care of her Aunt and Uncle after the disappearance of her father, and the mental breakdown of her mother. In a time when women were barely tolerated, let alone a woman who is deemed a “half-breed”, she has to deal with the horrendous injustices of racism and sexism on a daily basis. This really stuck out in my mind: she isn’t allowed to attend school, and this hurts her deeply as her cousin, who has little interest in gaining knowledge, attends daily.

I felt a sharp pang of envy in my chest, something I often felt when I thought about my cousin. It wasn’t that she was beautiful and polite, but that she was able to go to school every day and I never was.
[…]
All I’d ever wanted to do was learn, to fill my mind with knowledge and wisdom, while Rose seemed to abhor everything about learning, except when it came to the piano.

I think her struggles were portrayed really well, and nothing was sugar coated. I like that the romanticism and idealism that often hangs over historically set novels isn’t showing its ugly head. Life could suck back then, especially if you were a woman. A maybe-negative: The dialogue is a bit on the modern side. This could potentially irritate some, but it worked for me personally as I don’t enjoy Ye Olden Speech – unless it’s Pride and Prejudice, then I’m all mushy.

Jake McGraw's character starts off, in short, as an arrogant, chauvinistic asshole, yet with the way he is portrayed as the story progresses, you could see that there is a lot more to him that what firsts meets the eye. I liked the romantic element that was woven into the horror, but it never overshadowed the story, just enhanced it.

"We’re still human even in the face of beasts, even with our lives at risk. When you’re close to death, love is sometimes the only thing that makes sense in life.”

Karina is champion of balancing all the different elements and plotlines within her stories. Everything happens at the right moment, it flows naturally and nothing if forced upon us. The epilogue was written exactly how I prefer epilogues to be written. It wasn’t drawn out and didn’t introduce unnecessary twists, keeping in line with what was naturally progressing with the characters’ lives at the books end.

I gave this book a four star rating, even though I do think it could deserve a lot more. This is purely because Karina is competing with her other books in my mind. Did I think Jake and Eve’s story matched or exceeded Dex and Perry’s from the Experiment in Terror series, or Camden and Ellie’s story in the Artists Trilogy? To me, it didn’t. I gave both of these a five star rating, so I feel to keep my ratings a little bit consistent, a four star rating more accurately describes my overall feelings toward the characters, and therefore, the book.

Review: Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Title: Dead Beautiful
Author: Yvonne Woon
Series: Dead Beautiful, #1
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 3.5 / 5

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On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Zombies. Not my usual supernatural creature of choice, but hey, I'll be open-minded. First off, let me stress, I think this book has oodles of potential. I really liked the thinking surrounding death and the Undead, and how they are created. I found it absorbing and it could have been turned into a wonderful – and dare I say, quite original – story. My BIG issue: It contained so many “Twilight Moments” it took the emphasis away from those interesting qualities. It cheapened the story, leaving many areas to find issues with. Let me clarify: It is not so much what happens, it is how is happens I have a problem with.

For example: Let’s be honest, when we were in school, the vast majority of us shared a class with the person we were currently crushing on. It happens! That’s normal. Great. Brilliant. BUT! Why, oh why, in Dead Beautiful, does the class they share have to be a science class? And Renee and Dante end up lab partners? Complete with a scene in the dark where they can get nice and cuddly (YA style of course)?

Also, the way Dante and Renee are interacting with each other: quite a few instances in their dialogue were ringing bells with what Edward says to Bella, or vice versa. Have a look at this:

“Renee, what if I hurt you? I would never forgive myself”

“You won’t hurt me, I know you won’t”, I said, raising my hand to his face. He pressed it against his cheek.

“You don’t understand. You don’t know what I’m capable of. I’m afraid to touch you, in case I break you; I’m afraid to talk to you, afraid you’ll realise that I’m a monster. But every day you’re still here” he gazed at me. “I can barely control myself when I’m around you.”

I swear I read something very similar in Twilight. I confess, when I read this part, I had to put the book down and walk away for a while.

Oh, and a requirement that most Twilight-esque YA books should have: The confession of being seventeen, told in a mountainous forest – I mean there are no other ways this information could be found out, or other locations where this conversation could take place… None at all! *rolls-eyes*

Also, the Board of Monitors, and what they represent, reminds me of Night School – a series by C.J. Daugherty that I adore. That series also takes place in an academy by the way. Actually, quite a lot of the academia side of this book rings familiar bells.

It’s a shame, because, when I pull away all these familiar parts, what was left I did enjoy reading. I read this book in about two and a half days. At 505 pages, it’s not a short read! It captured and held my attention, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen as quickly as possible. As I said above, it has the potential to be a really brilliant story. I’m just really frustrated that it seems necessary to follow the Twilight timeline to create a YA book these days. I beg you, leave Twilight where it is! Move on, please! Create something even better. I’m on the fence about continuing with the series. Right now, I will, but it’ll depend on my mood if I come across Life Eternal on my next shopping binge. <-- Yes I confess, I am quite the shopaholic when it comes to books…