Review for Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Publisher: Orchard
Release Date: 5th July 2012 (UK)
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Ghost Story
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"Cas Lowood is no ordinary guy - he hunts dead people. People like Anna. Anna Dressed in Blood. A beautiful, murderous ghost entangled in curses and rage. Cas knows he must destroy her, but as her tragic past is revealed, he starts to understand why Anna has killed everyone who's ever dared to enter her spooky home. Everyone, that is, except Cas..."

Review 
Anna Dressed in Blood is a book that I’ve heard a lot of hype for especially in the US and I can certainly see why! This has to be one of the best YA ghost stories that I’ve read. I absolutely loved the idea of this book and was immersed in Cas’s world as a ghost hunter from the start. The concept behind the existence of these ghosts and how to “kill” them was brilliant, with the ghost replaying their last moments over to you (and they’re usually pretty gruesome!) and then killing the living in the same way that they died in a vengeful fury made for creeptastic gold.

The book kicks off with Cas getting a call to investigate a particularly terrifying and unusual ghost Anna Dressed in Blood a girl who acts as protector of her old house from 1958 and who literally tears apart limb by limb any person who dares enter her home, her dress once white now dripping red with blood. No one who has entered that house has ever came out but after a horrendous prank gone wrong Cas miraculously manages to escape Anna’s curse of rage and murder and what’s more Anna willingly lets him go free and so begins an unputdownable read of evil and tragedy, of magic and murder and a moving love story between a living boy and a dead girl.

There are three different plots running alongside each other in this book. One about Cas and how he came into the job of resident ghost hunter, another about Anna and what she went through when she was alive that made her into this awful ghost that’s so different and so much stronger than any other that Cas has come across, and then there’s the magical aspect of the book which focuses on curses and voodoo and how they play a big part in the story. Blake isn’t afraid to go full out on the blood and gore and there was always something interesting and exciting going on so that my adrenaline was pumping right till the end.

Whilst this book is chilling and haunting it’s also funny and romantic too. I loved having a bad ass male protagonist who lightened the mood with his witty and snarky comments on many occasions and I loved the unlikely common ground and companionship he found with Anna, who when she’s not ripping people to shreds is actually a very nice girl. I also liked the friends they made along the way Carmel your typical popular girl who actually turns out to be pretty tough and awesome and Thomas a newbie witch in training. The characters personalities put a fun light hearted spin on a chilling ghost story and I loved that unexpected element that lightened the book up when it needed it.

The only complaint I have is with the lack of explanation regarding some areas of the book. The ending was a bit of a disappointment for me in that respect as I hardly got any answers to my burning questions and while I get that the author did that to get us pumped for the sequel I would of liked a little something more to leave me satisfied with the end to this book and to make it feel like a completed novel in its own right.

Overall Anna Dressed in Blood is an amazing and original addition to the YA genre and is as beautiful as it is haunting. If you like your books action packed and your romances deliciously twisted this is your perfect read.

Giveaway for The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

As part of the UK blog tour to celebrate The Immortal Rules I will be giving away a copy of the book to one UK winner I really loved this book and am excited to be giving it away! For more information on the book or to find out what I thought you can read my full review here.

Amazon Synopsis:
"My Vampire Creator Told Me This: Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand? I didn't then, not really. I DO NOW. In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who killed her mother and keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked - and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters. Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must work with her vampire creator and learn the rules of being immortal. Including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. When Allison is separated from her creator, she flees into the unknown, the world outside her vampire city, beyond the wall. There she joins a ragged band of humans who don't know what she is, seeking a legend - a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike."

 Rules
To enter please fill in the Rafflecopter bellow.
Open to UK residents only.
End date: Wednesday 16th May 2012
Winner will be contacted by email and will have 1 week to reply else another winner will be selected.

Review for Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan
Publisher: Sphere
Release Date: 29th March 2012
Genre: Chick-lit, Romance, Adult Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Source: Bought

Amazon Summary:
"Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? Penny chews or hard boiled sweeties (you do get more for your money that way)? The jangle of your pocket money . . . the rustle of the pink and green striped paper bag . . . Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong. Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams - a novel - with recipes."

Review 
Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams was my first book by Jenny Colgan and I absolutely loved it! Her last two books have really appealed to me what with being a real foodie, and her pretty charming covers have really caught my eye. I think the concept of having a chick-lit novel intermingled with a delicious treat, in this case old fashioned sweets, is a bit of a genius idea as it really gives the sense that your indulging in something naughty but nice and it’s refreshing to see a chick-lit novel that celebrates the joys of sweets instead of the heroine counting the calories and going on a diet in a bid to lose weight.

The book begins with our loveable heroine Rosie living out a pretty mundane existence. She’s in a steady relationship and has a good job in a city that she loves. Rosie’s always been a true Londoner and has never known anything else but the hustle and bustle of city life. So when she gets a call from her mum pulling in a family favour asking her to go and care for her Great Aunt Lilian in the countryside Rosie’s not at all thrilled. But as she gets settled in and swept up in the gorgeous quaint country village of Lipton Rosie not only finds herself falling in love with this way of life and her aunt’s old fashioned sweetshop but the people too particularly three strapping countrymen a doctor, his patient, and the local handy man who are a far cry from her high maintenance boyfriend back in London. Soon enough Rosie has some big decisions to make, return to the life she’s always known? Or take a leap of faith into something new? And if she does take the plunge which local lads arms will she be falling into?

The story’s told in an alternating narrative between Rosie and her Aunt Lilian. Rosie’s chapters are told in present tense as she refurbishes Lipton’s Sweetshop and Lilian’s are told in the past tense taking us back as far as 1942 when she was a young lass running her family’s sweetshop through war, heartbreak, and family feuds. I have to admit that I did prefer Rosie’s chapters simply because I found her more relatable than Lilian. But that being said Lilian’s chapters where fascinating to read about and gave a little something extra to the story especially as we come to learn of Lilian’s mistakes and regrets and how they start to mirror Rosie’s own situation. There’s a strong moral of living with no regrets, of taking what you want from life, and learning from past mistakes.

I absolutely fell in love with the Hopkins’ Sweetshop. The way that Jenny Colgan describes the sweets and scenery was so vivid that my mouth would water as I imagined the sweet sugary scent which made me nostalgic (not to mention hungry!) for the sweets I enjoyed as a child. Chocolate Limes, Flying Saucers, and great big thick slabs of creamy Fudge they’re all here and celebrated in this book. I particularly enjoyed the sections on sweets taken from Lilian’s recipe book at the beginning of every chapter particularly the one about life being like a bag of Revels rather than a box of chocolates!

Overall Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams is a charming and delicious treat of a book for foodies and chick-lit fans alike. The blend of sweet nostalgia, warm characters, and yummy men make it a book good enough to be eaten up in one single satisfying bite.

April Round-Up and Book of the Month!

April's BotM is Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Well this should come as no surprise right? The blogosphere is absolutely heaving with rave reviews for this book at the moment and mine was no exception. I love this series and Insurgent was possibly the strongest sequel that I’ve ever read, period. If you loved Divergent I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this sequel and if you haven’t read Divergent yet are you crazy? Go read it/buy it right now! This was the first 5 star that I’ve given in a long time and my books don’t get their 5 stars unless they are perfection so that alone should give you an idea of why this book was my favourite book read in April. For more on either Divergent or Insurgent click on their titles and it will take you to my full reviews.

Books Read in April
27.) 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad (4*)
28.) Fateful by Claudia Gray (3.5*)
29.) The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (4.5*)
30.) Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne (4.5*)
31.) Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan (4.5*)
32.) Insurgent by Veronica Roth (5*)
33.) Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer (4*)
34.) Unrest by Michelle Harrison (5*)
Total Books Read = 8 


This Month’s Book Awards
Best Plot: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Best Writing: Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne
Best Cover: Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’s Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan
Best Characters: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Best Ending: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Best Romance: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Most un-put-down-able: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Most Memorable: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Best Moral: Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Insurgent, Unrest, Heart-Shaped Bruise

Books I’m Looking Forward to Being Released in May:
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (x1000!!!)
Until I Die by Amy Plum
Life Eternal by Yvonne Woon
The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill
(Links lead to books Goodreads page for more info!)

Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? What were your thoughts on them? Do you want to see a particular review for any of the books I’ve read this month sooner rather than later? Leave me a comment and let me know and don’t forget to treat yourselves to Insurgent (or Divergent if you haven’t read the first book) – you won’t regret it! Here’s to another month of fab reading ahead!

Review for Insurgent by Veronica Roth

WARNING
This is the second book in the Divergent Trilogy. Although this review will contain no big spoilers from Insurgent by talking about the plot there may be unintentional spoilers from the first book in the series. You can find my review for the first book Divergent here.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 1st May 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"Fighting for survival in a shattered world… the truth is her only hope. The thrillingly dark sequel to New York Times bestseller, DIVERGENT. I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am. Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future. Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead."

Review
Insurgent is the kind of sequel I’ve always dreamt of reading. Y’know when you read a really fabulous debut and you’re left dying to read the next book only for it to be kinda disappointing compared to the first? Well Insurgent isn’t like that AT ALL. Firstly there is NO love triangle something that is so overdone in YA fiction and tends to develop in the second book in a series. Secondly, like Divergent, Insurgent reads like a fully accomplished novel that is, whilst part of a series, a complete well rounded book in its own right. And lastly it answers ALL OF THE QUESTIONS fans have been dying to know and the answers breed new questions for the next book. In short it’s not the same plot repeated all over again or just one long dragged out premise. I think Insurgent has to be one of the strongest sequels I’ve ever read and I loved it even more than Divergent.

The book jumps in right where Divergent left off with no re-caps so if it’s been a while since you read Divergent you might want to fit in a re-read before picking up this book if your memory needs refreshing. Insurgent takes off at break neck speed when Tris, Tobias, Peter, Marcus and Caleb arrive at Amity headquarters seeking refuge from the war that is unfolding between the other factions. In Insurgent you really get to know each faction better as throughout the book Tris spends time in each one, you also learn more about the factionless and their way of life which I found really interesting as Veronica Roth’s factions are something completely different to other societies in dystopian fiction. All of the big questions get answered in this book like why Erudite are interested in the Divergent? Why the attack on Abnegation at the end of the first book took place? And perhaps biggest of all how the world came to be this way with each person being assigned to a faction in the first place?

As mentioned earlier this book doesn’t have a love triangle something I personally found hugely refreshing. Instead Tris and Tobias have their own ups and downs I wasn’t sure how I felt about this at first as no one wants to see one of their favourite couples arguing but as I read on it made their relationship feel that much more real to me and overall I believe made them even stronger as a couple.

Tris is a very different Tris to the one we met in Divergent. Whilst still being a total bad ass we see a softer side to her in this book. Tris’s grief over losing her parents and guilt over the death of her friend Will really takes its toll on her and she’s a little bit more fragile and vulnerable than she was before. I really liked this different side to Tris I thought it gave her more dimension as a character and I enjoyed watching her grow and find a new kind of strength. Despite everything she’s been through she’s still a total trooper and I had a new found respect for her because of that.

I won’t go into any spoilers on the ending of this book so all I will say is that my jaw literally dropped. The ending to this book blew my mind and I LOVE the direction that Veronica Roth has taken this series. Its genius and sad and terrifying and is different to anything else in the dystopian market. When I read the last word I just sat there mouth hanging open thinking about what this means and what might be to come. I don’t think that fans of Divergent could ever be disappointed with such a strong sequel; I loved everything about Insurgent and will anxiously be awaiting the next book to this series.