Hush, Hush + Crescendo + Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hi! I'm so glad I'm on time this week. :)
So today, I'm going to review the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. I started this series a few years ago, after I saw the cover to Hush, Hush and fell in love with it. I finished the last book, Silence, a few months ago, but the fourth book, Finale, is coming out so I wanted to be caught up so I could read Finale peacefully. Now, without further adieu, let's begin.

 The first book is called Hush, Hush. I loved this cover ever since I saw it in the bookstore. I bought it without reading the summary and it proved to be a wonderful book.
It starts out with Nora Grey, our heroine, in Biology class. When the seating chart changes, she is assigned to sit next to Patch Ciprianio. There is something about him that is off to Nora, not to mention that he knows almost everything about her.
She warns herself to stay away from him, but their attraction can not be denied. When she learns about him and what he is, her whole world tilts on it's axis. When she is attacked multiple times by a mysteries man in a ski mask, she is led to believe it is Patch, but finds out it is a classmate who has an interesting past as well.
This book is fast-moving, thrilling, and darkly romantic. Not to mention that Patch is most defiantly the sexiest love interest ever.
Okay, so time to wail on some stuff. I actually don't have much criticism except that Patch seems to be two different people to me. One minute, he's a badass who wears black all the time, and the next minute, he's this caring, lovable guy who lends Nora his shirt because she's cold...and he still wears black. But maybe that's what Becca Fitzpatrick was trying to convey; I'm still sketchy.


The second book is called Crescendo. This book, like most sequels, is sort of depressing.
Nora finally has Patch. But when she tells him the most important thing she has ever told anybody, he just...walks away. When she finds out from Marcie Millar (her worst enemy), that Patch was standing outside her window one night, Nora gets hurt and suspicious.  When Patch refuses to tell her what he was doing, Nora ends the relationship. And on top of all this chaotic mess, Scott Parnell (a.k.a. Scotty the Potty)  has moved back to town. She starts hanging out with him when she can no longer rely on Patch. But she finally discovers what is really going on - she and Patch are not supposed to be together and the archangels are keeping then apart. But Patch goes rogue, refusing to be a guardian angel any more. They are back in each others arms, only to be torn apart again.

This book was good, but not as good as I expected. I saw Patch as a player instead of Nora's loving boyfriend. I didn't like that, and I also didn't like that he was spending so much time with Marcie, no matter how inevitable it was. All in all, this book was okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected.

The third book is Silence, and I think that the title is rather clever, considering that Nora loses her memory, so her memories are 'silent'.

When Nora gets kidnapped, by Hank Millar of all people, Patch does everything and anything to get her back. But when he does, she has lost her memories of the last five months - before she met Patch, before she knew about fallen angels, before everything. Patch is now going by Jev, which is his real name. She meets him, and gets the chance to fall in love all over again. Nora wants to know who Jev was to her before and also wants to know the identity of the person who kidnapped her. Vee, Nora's bestfriend, and her mother lie to her about Jev, telling her that she knew him, but never liked him. Nora's confused and hurt; she just wants her memory back. But she other issues from her past to deal with. She is forced to take a vow and become a full Nephillim. She now has to lead an army. What will happen next?

This book was so far the greatest in the series, but there are three things I didn't like: the memory loss, how Vee and her mother lied to her about Patch, and how Patch refused to explain their earlier relationship. But I liked that they got to chance to fall in love again, and enjoyed reading that.

All in all, this is my second-favorite series ever, behind the Shiver series, which I will probably be reviewing next time. I hope ya'll enjoyed it and I will see you next week.

                                                                                                            -Amba

Need, Captivate, Entice and Endure by Carrie Jones

Hi guys! Once again, I'm sorry that I have been neglecting my beloved blog. I really don't mean to, it's just that I've been so busy lately with flute lessons and English studies. I know, that's a lame excuse, and it was also the same one I used on my last blog. Again, I'm sorry, but by all means, let's get started.
So the reason that I'm doing four books at once is because I read the first three all over again to prepare for the fourth book, Endure which was just recently published.

Okay, so I will start out with Need. This book is about a girl, Zara White, who moved to Bedford, Maine from Charleston after her step-father died from a heart attack. Zara's mother sent her here because she was fading emotionally and her mother felt the move might help restore her. There, Zara meets Isse, Devyn, and Nick who become her best friends. Nick becomes  her protector and they eventually fall in love. In Bedford she starts seeing the same man she saw in Charleston at the airport as she was leaving. When she tells her friends, they try to tell her that he's a pixie and he's stalking her. At first, she is skeptical but once teenage boys start disappearing and she sees gold glitter everywhere, she begins to believe them. They tell her that pixies aren't like Tinkerbell, but are human-sized monsters with needs. A need is what pixies get when their king has gone too long without a queen. They take boys and torture them and feed on their blood and their souls until they die. Zara needs to stop this and keep the town protected, but that's easier said then done. 


So, some people say that this book starts out much like Twilight, with a girls mom sending her to live with a family member in a much colder environment than what she is used to. But the references pretty much end there. On the back of this book, in the praise, it says "If you got Stephanie Meyer and Stephen King to write a book together, you'd get Need." If your not a Twilight fan, like me, don't fear, because I loved this book nonetheless. 

Next up is Captivate. This is the second book in the series, and is, like many sequels, a sad novel. In this book, Zara, Isse, Nick, and Devyn start writing a manuel called "How To Survive A Pixie Attack"..which is actually kind of ironic considering the turn of events this book takes. It all starts out, believe it or not, with Zara fighting off a Valkyrie to save a pixie. Valkyrie's are women who take fallen warriors to Valhalla to await the final epic battle that will determine the fate of the Earth. Later, Nick dies at the hands of Frank, an evil pixie, and is taken by a Valkyrie. Zara finds out that the pixie she saved in the beginning of the book is Astley, who is a good pixie king. He needs a queen to remain strong and to help control the "needs" of his people. He has his eyes set on Zara. But Zara is still trying to get Nick back from Valhalla, and soon learns that she can't do that if she's human.  


The only thing I didn't understand about this book is why she never really trusts Astley, which I find strange because he has done so much to prove that he is a good pixie who does not believe in killing. It's only in the third book that she really starts trusting him. 






Entice is the third book in the Need series. This book is an interesting one, because they are still searching for Valhalla to get Nick back. Zara is now a pixie, but the good kind, along with her pixie king, Astley. I begin to like Astley a lot more in this book because even though Zara is his queen, and his feelings for her are quite different than hers for him, he still helps her get Nick back. They go to Iceland in search of Valhalla, steal a pixie named BiForst, visit Astley's evil mother, and after tons of dead ends and a whole lot of death, they finally find the infamous Valhalla. They bring Nick back, and everything's suppose to be hunky-dory, right? Wrong. 


My only problem with this book is this: when Zara finally does get to Valhalla, they seem fine with her bringing Nick back. I mean, sure, she does have to 'defeat' the pixie that killed Nick, but that's pretty much it. The guard lets her through easily, and so does everybody else. It just seems strange to me. I don't have much to wail about with this book, so I'm afraid to say that's about it.  

The last book in the series is Endure. Personally, this is my favorite, because she and Astley get closer, and I always felt they were supposed to be together. Nick is upset that she's turned into a pixie and treats her badly which is something I don't get. This time, they are in search of Hel which is not as bad as it sounds. They are trying to prevent the end of the world, and they learn that Zara is the key to preventing AND starting the apocalypse. They go to Iceland again, and they find and meet Hel, the ruler of Hel. Hel is not the same thing as Hell and actually...no I'm not going to give away anything major. They do prevent the end of the world, but with some sacrifices and bravery.

Once again, I don't have anything to wail on, save for maybe one thing. When Zara turns into a pixie, Nick is a total jerk and wants nothing to do with her. But then when Zara turns back into a human, Nick is all "I love you and want to be with you", and I totally thought that that was not right at all. He treated her like the plague when she was all pixied-out, but when that changed, he was a totally different person.  Can you tell I am not too impressed with Nick?




Okay, well that's my super-duper blog for this month, so I hope it's satisfying. Until next time, read on. 


                                                                                                                      -Amba

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Hey guys!
I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while; I've been so busy lately! I do hope that you find it in your heart to graciously forgive me. So it was a debate between two books and I decided to do the most recently read one since it is still fresh in my mind.
The book is Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and I think this book is amazing.
The summary is of a girl, Aislinn, who can see faeries. She has rejected it for all of her life, because her mother was taken by the faeries. She is raised by her paranoid grandmother, who is scared the fey will take Aislinn too. The faeries have never paid much attention to her until two start following her. Aislin becomes scared. The fey have never done this, so she become as paranoid as her grandmother. Her 'friend', Seth, doesn't know that she can see the faeries, but when she tells him, he fully supports her. One of the faeries, Keenan, starts going to her school and won't leave her alone. He starts hanging out with her friends, and she can't get away from him. She finally gives in, and agrees to go to a carnival with him. That is when everything goes downhill, which means that she drinks faerie wine and almost becomes one of them. By this time, Keenan knows that she can see them, and that Aislin is the girl he is looking for to become his Summer Queen. He can never have his full power without a queen. Another conflict in the story occurs because his mother is the queen of the Winter Court, and she is determined to make sure that he never gains his full power.
I really liked this book, however it didn't capture my attention like some other series such as Shiver and Hush Hush. I couldn't get enough of the romance in those books, but this book was like one of those that I read and kind of forgot about. I did find it strange that when Aislinn told Seth about the faeries, he seemed to take it almost naturally. Now, I find that more than a little weird, because if I was him I would be offering to drive her to the nearest hospital to have her head examined. I guess some readers would be okay with it, but I was skeptical.
Okay, that's all I got for now but if I have more, I promise to tell ya'll. :)
                                                                                                                                               -Amba

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

I will be reviewing the book Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins. This is an amazing book; I wish I had read it before now. I'm quite surprised that the writing is so good, condisering that Wendy Higgins just recently got published. If you read her blog or website, as I did, you will see that she hasn't written in a while. She says that her work was never published, so it became an abaondoned hobby. Nevertheless, she is an extornidary writer with a lot of depth which leads to an exciting read.

The story revolves around Anna Whitt, a girl who was born to an angel of light and a demon. Her mother, the angel,  died in childbirth, and her father was sent to jail. She was adopted my Patti Whitt, who dreamt of an angel who told her to adopt a child. Patti knew Anna's secret, but never told her until she meets a handsome boy named Kaiden Rowe. He knows her secret, and that's when Patti decides to tell Anna that she is an angel. Now, when I say angel, you might think that's it all about wings and heaven, but wings are never mentioned in this book. So if you are seeking out an angel book with wings and constant mention of God and heaven, this might not be the book for you.  So, Anna discovers she's the daughter of the Duke of Stubstance Abuse, and that's when something hits the fan.
That's about it for the plot, and I'm going to tell you no more. This book is great, but so many things happen in it. She takes a road trip, blows thourgh almost a year of school, and then goes to New York. In my opinion, this could almost be two books in one. I liked this book immensly, but some parts of it were graphic. There's no sex or anything, but there is plenty of violence. You may not agree but I am kind of a soft soul, so the things in this book struck a senstitive cord in me.
I think that this book might need to be marketed to an older audience than young adults, because there are Dukes for the seven deadly sins such as lust, adultery, and drinking or substance abuse. Kaiden is the son of the Duke of Lust, so you can imagine what he does all day. There are also two sisters who are the daughters of the Duke of Adultery, so they spend their time breaking up marrigaes and having spontaneous affairs with married men. Anna is the daughter of the Duke of Substance Abuse, so she works to make people addicted to alcohol and drugs.
The relationship between Anna and Kaiden is a bit sketchy, and depression abounds in this book. A couple of times I had to put this book down in class or at home, because the sadness was eating away at me. The end isn't very happy either, so if you want a happy ending, you might want to rethink reading this. I think there will be a sequel, so not all hope is lost.
That's all I have to say. If you are reading this book, thinkning about reading this book, or have already read it, and have any questions and or comments, please share. Thanks!
                                                                                                                                    - Amba        

Wrecked by Anna Davies review

This will be my first review. Many of you might not have read this book. Last I checked, she didn't have a website. I have yet to hear anything or see any pictures of or about this author, but she is a good writer.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It starts off straight away with her friends dying on the boat. The story line is of a girl, Miranda O'Rourke, who lives on Whym Island. One night, she takes some of her friends on her boat which she hasn't driven for the whole summer. While on the water, the navigation system goes berserk. A fire starts on the boat, and four of her friends die. Her boyfriend goes into a coma from breathing too much smoke when the boat catches on fire.

She is then shunned by everyone on the island because she was the one driving the boat, and is therefore blamed for the tragic accident. But it was no accident, for Sephie, the legend sea witch, had crashed the boat on purpose. She wanted all their souls, but didn't get Miranda's.
A boy saved Miranda from drowning, and because he was the one who saved her, he had to kill her to give her soul to Sephie. Christian  is a betwixman, who lives in the Down Below. But he falls in love with Miranda and can't bring himself to do it.

I enjoyed this book profusely but thought it unrealistic that the people of the island blamed her for the wreck. I mean, yes, she was the one driving the boat, but she didn't purposely wreck it. It wasn't her fault, but the author made such a big deal about everyone blaming her that I actually started to believe that she really did wreck the boat.
The other thing I didn't like was that Miranda and Christian fell in love so fast. I mean, sure, love at first sight does exist, but I don't think they can really deeply love each other after a week. That's how long Christian was given to get her soul. Love takes time, and it would take much longer than a week for two people to truly love each other.
This is just my opinion, but it any of you have read this book and have different thoughts, please share. :)
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                  -Amba

A Small Introduction

Hi, you will get to know me as Amba Flyleaf, though this is not my real name. If you are not too terribly familiar with this word, flyleaf, I will gladly enlighten you. Flyleaves are the end and beginning pages of the beautiful things we know as books. I choose this because as a reader and writer ( and soon to be author), I found this name appropriate.

My aim is to review the paranormal romances that I intend to read this summer, but I also enjoy hearing about your interests and book preferences as well. Please feel free to share any types of books that you enjoy, for this blog isn't only about the paranormal romance genre. 

I started this because I needed something to do over the summer. Most of my school friends will be doing their own thing and I will be keeping company with my dog and the characters in my books. I all too soon decided that I will be bored with my make-believe circle of friends, and need to make some new ones to stay sane over the three month period that school will be out. 

I hope that you will find this blog interesting and helpful, and all I ask is that you not judge this book by it's cover. 

                                                                                                                                                -Amba