Author: J.L. Murray
Series: The Thirteen, #1
Published: December 31st 2013
Publisher: Hellzapoppin Press
Format: ebook, 281 pages
Source: Author for review
Buy: Amazon

In a world ravaged by disease and chaos, Jenny has a secret. She and her brother were part of a gruesome experiment conducted ten years earlier in an attempt to stop the zombie apocalypse. If the rumors are true, her mother was the hated pathologist who released the disease in the first place, leading to the destruction of government, civilization, and life as we know it.

Despite the constant terror of the undead, Jenny is as happy as a post-apocalyptic girl can be. She has friends, she's good with a knife, and she has Declan Munro by her side. But when she hears her brother might still be alive and living with the Underground, a religious group hiding in the now-defunct subway, Jenny jumps at the chance to find him. She infiltrates the group to right the wrong she caused when she ran away, leaving him in that lab.

When she finds him, though, Casey is not at all what she expected. He's been turned. And the impossible happens when Jenny is bitten. She and Casey are dead, but they're not like any other rotters. Their minds are still intact. And there are others: Thirteen children survived the mysterious experiments, and it’s up to Jenny to find them and bring an end to the plague. But not everyone wants the chaos to end.

Between battling her hunger for living flesh and the all-encompassing rage that goes with it, and the realization that a killer is stalking both the living and the undead, Jenny has her hands full. Coming between a dead girl and the people she loves is a big mistake. Because if you can count on one thing, it's this:

You wouldn't like her angry.

Jenny lives in a brutal, unforgiving, zombie-filled world, and her own family is to blame. Both her mother and her grandfather were scientists who experimented on Jenny, her brother Casey and several other kids. Jenny escaped her family years ago, but every day, she regrets leaving Casey behind. In her desperate attempt to find and save her brother, Jenny falls straight into a trap and her life (and afterlife) get changed forever.

Jenny is a heroine you’ll have no trouble following into one bloody battle after another. She is strong and charismatic, a natural born leader, yet she also has a softer, more vulnerable side, one that is scared to hope for a better life. After surviving a horrendous childhood and just marginally better adulthood, Jenny is a woman with strong principles and a very kind heart.

Ah, but let’s not forget the romance! When we meet Jenny, she’s already in a long, loving relationship with Declan Munro, a strong man with a reputation for being vicious and merciless. The depth of emotions these two share is astonishing and heartwarming. Jenny is the only thing that matters to Declan, and their relationship is the pillar that makes this book much stronger. Finding a book with an already established romance is a rare treat, and Jenny and Declan proved that authors should definitely do this more often.

To people who are understandably cautious when picking up an indie book, I’ll say only this: Jenny Undead is perfectly written, perfectly edited and perfectly formatted. I’ve seen traditionally published books in far worse shape. Don’t hesitate to pick this one up, I promise you won’t regret it for a second.

Author: Cassie Alexander
Series: Edie Spence, #4
Published: December 31st 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

Edie Spence just wanted a vacation. A nice, relaxing, stress free, non-adventure away from the craziness that's dominated her life since becoming a nurse for paranormal creatures. But from the start, her trip on the Maraschino, a cruise ship bound for Hawaii, has been anything but stress free, especially when Edie's boyfriend Asher recognizes someone he used to know. Someone from his not-so-nice past. With their lives in the balance, will Edie and Asher be able to save their growing family or will this adventure be their end?

Here I am after yet another adventure with nurse Edie Spence. Our relationship is so full of ups and downs, but there is a certain honesty and quality to Cassie Alexander’s writing that draws me back in every single time.

To her credit, Alexander doesn’t hesitate to create her setting from scratch for each new book. Edie is long gone from Y4, the hospital wing for supernatural patients where she used to work. Even though I always expected her to return, the author keeps taking her to new places instead. In Deadshifted, she goes on a cruise ship with her boyfriend Asher, where she encounters the most dangerous enemy so far.

Being a nurse herself, and with a main character who is also a nurse, Cassie Alexander was never one to shy away from bloody, gory details, and the same is true for Deadshifted. Her descriptions often turn my stomach, but I appreciate the authenticity they give to Edie’s character. The creatures she brought in this time are second only to her zombies in the amount of disgust they provoke.

After struggling with loneliness for years, Edie finally found some peace with the shapeshifter Asher. Needless to say, I was thrilled when these two found their way to each other after so mall the obstacles they had to overcome. However, now that they’re together and we finally get to know Asher a bit more, I’m not sure that Edie wasn’t better off alone. A woman will never change a man – this is something Alexander approaches extremely realistically – and Asher has lived far too many lives and done what he wanted for far too long to start taking someone else’s feelings into account now. Be that as it may, it seems that he and Edie are here to stay – regardless of his arrogant, hardheaded and extremely unlikeable personality. I don’t doubt that he loves Edie, but I doubt his capacity to love like she deserves.

Unlike the previous book, which wrapped up neatly and beautifully, Deadshifted ends with a pretty nasty cliffhanger. Now, I know you all know this, but it bears repeating: I. Do. Not. Appreciate. Cliffhangers. Suddenly there are cliffhangers everywhere, and I’m getting a bit tired of trying to remember where I left which character.

Cassie Alexander takes everything just a bit further than your average urban fantasy author. She is not in the business of writing fairy tales, nor does she aim to please her fans. She writes it how it is, sparing no one in the process, especially not her protagonist, poor Edie Spence.

Author: Jamie McGuire
Series: Standalone
Published: October 1st 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Lenght: 9 hrs and 38 mins
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Audible

When the world ends, can love survive?

For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone means fighting for tomorrow is an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can’t remember what it’s like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda’s biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals.

When reports of a widespread, deadly “outbreak” begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can’t outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in the face of a terrifying enemy—an enemy who no longer remembers what it’s like to be human.

Set against the backdrop of a brilliantly realized apocalyptic world, love somehow finds a way to survive. But what happens when the one you’d die for becomes the one who could destroy you?

There are so few old school zombie books these days, pure end-of-the-world survival stories. Red Hill reminded me of movies like Dawn of the Dead, with its overall story, individual characters’ stories and the day-to-day struggle to survive. I could easily imagine this turned into a movie and even the smallest details came alive in my head beautifully.

Red Hill is told from three perspectives: Scarlett, a divorced nurse and mother of two pre-teen daughters, separated from them and desperate to find them; Nathan, a single father of one small daughter with special needs; and Miranda, a college student intent on taking her group of friends to her father’s Red Hill ranch where they have the best chance of surviving the apocalypse.

All three voices were done exceptionally well. I found myself enjoying all three perspectives equally. As a mother, I understood Scarlett’s desperate need to find her daughter and admired Nathan for his determination to keep his little girl safe, but Miranda was the one closest to me as a person. I found so much of myself in her that it was easy to understand her choices at all times, even when someone else might have struggled with them.

While characters are very much the heart of this story, there is plenty of blood and gore around them. Zombies are everywhere, fresh and hungry. McGuire never shied away from horrible, painful things. No character was ever safe. I expected a lot of things from Red Hill, but the emotional impact took me completely by surprise.

Emma Galvin, January LaVoy and Zachary Webber narrated this story. Emma Galvin is the only one I’ve had the pleasure of listening to before (Divergent, Allegiant, Forever) but the other two were just as good. They each added something to their POV character and turned this story into a spectacular listening experience.

If you enjoy old-school zombie books, Red Hill is a must read. I strongly recommend it to fans of Rihannon Frater’s As the World Dies trilogy and to all other zombie fans. I doubt there’s room for a sequel here, but Jamie McGuire is a versatile writer and I’m sure she’ll give us so many other books to look forward to in the future.

When Maja asked me to contribute a guest post about Halloween, I was thrilled. This is partly because I’m of the firm belief that Maja is FRAWESOME and partly because I’m of the firm belief that Halloween is FRAWESOME but not quite as frawesome as Maja. (That makes sense in my head. Honest.) I think the thing that gets me the most about Halloween is that it’s a time to let down your inhibitions. Some people take that the wrong way—I’m firmly reminded of the guy who spent one Halloween party walking around with a Twister mat wrapped around his body, yelling, “Right hand on yellow! Right hand on yellow!” You can imagine where the yellow was.

Yeah, that happened. Not frawesome, Twister Man. Not frawesome at all.

I’m not talking about turning into total creepers like Twister Man; I mean that for that one day, it’s perfectly acceptable to be a freak. I can wear my pink dress printed in zombie unicorns and dead teddy bears and fit right in! I have a good excuse to wear the Bride of Frankenstein earrings and the spike heels with the werewolves on them, except that I hate spike heels and inevitably end up carrying them. But they’re still cute, so I still consider it a win.

But this is about more than just the contents of my closet. For me, Halloween was like a gateway drug. I’ve always loved campy monster stuff—the Kate Grable books started out as me trying to make myself laugh, and the more outlandish they got, the harder I snarfed. But I felt this pressure to be normal—whatever that is—and to fit in with everyone else. But here was one day where I could go big and wave my freak flag high, and no one looked at me funny.


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Author: Rhiannon Frater
Published: September 12th 2013
Publisher: Lyssa-Noel Rhiannon Frater
Lenght: 11 hrs and 56 mins
Buy: Audible

A walled city surrounded by lush land, protected by high mountain summits, and fortified by a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, The Bastion remained humanity's last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. On one fateful day, the valley gate failed and the Inferi Scourge overran and destroyed the human settlements outside the walls, trapping the remaining survivors inside the city. Now, decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city of dwindling resources...and dwindling hope.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate, reclaiming the lost lands and energizing the populace with renewed hope for the future. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

Vanguard Maria Martinez is an officer of the constabulary. Although young, she’s already a decorated war hero with a very strong sense of duty. Her job is to guard the wall that separates the living from the dead – the Bastion from the zombie-infested lands – but the war against the Inferi Scourge, i.e. the zombies, has long ago been lost. The last city, last Bastion, is fighting for mere survival, nothing more. Maria doesn’t remember a world without the scrags, but when she is called to lead a desperate mission, she sees it as her duty to accept.

Castellan Dwayne Reichardt is Maria’s boyfriend, twenty five years her senior. They keep their relationship a secret for several valid reasons, but their love is strong and true. He is there to support Maria every step of the way, and he never hesitates to bend a few rules if that’s what it takes to keep her safe. Frater did something not many authors do: she wrote a solid relationship that was already established at the beginning of the novel and that remained a warm, comforting presence throughout. This story did not need relationship angst – it needed both Maria and Dwayne, confident in their love and united against their enemies. Everything about them was perfectly realistic and even though they were physically apart most of the time, their love kept softening the edges of this story.

The Last Bastion of the Living is told both from Maria’s and Dwayne’s third person points of view, and both perspectives were needed to understand the full extent of their troubles. Frater is a fabulous storyteller, one who knows how to build up tension to an almost unbearable level, and The Last Bastion is her most mature work to date, unpredictable and fascinating.

Kristin Allison narrated this audiobook and I thought she did a stunning job. Her voice is calm, measured and mature-sounding, perfect for a fierce soldier like Maria. She narrated the action scenes in that same tranquil manner, which, instead of making them seem dull, increased the creepiness and the tension. She was an excellent choice for a book like The Last Bastion and I won’t hesitate to buy something narrated by her in the future.

As for Rhiannon Frater and I, our love story is only just beginning. She’ll keep writing, I’ll keep reading and we’ll both live happily ever after.

Author: Cassie Alexander
Series: Edie Spence, #2
Published: November 27th 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Paperback, 352 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository



It’s no secret that I love urban fantasy more than any other genre out there, and I love it even more when urban fantasy flirts with horror just a little bit. I discovered the Edie Spence series entirely by accident, really enjoyed the first book, Nightshifted, and now I’m happy to report that the second book didn’t diminish my love for it in the least.

I think what people like most about Edie is that she’s just a regular woman, very non-heroic and plain. She works her night shifts at the hospital, gets conned over and over by her addict brother and pushed around by the supernatural community. She has no lasting relationship, no real friends, and her bond with her family is tenuous at best. One can’t help but feel compassion for Edie and her sad, quiet life, but there are times when she seems just a bit too passive. I like reading about regular people in unusual circumstances, and I don’t necessarily want them to be fearless or heroic, but resourceful would be nice. Edie is often just a pushover, for her brother, her co-workers, the mysterious Shadows and the entire supernatural community, especially the vampires. She gets involved in their business in very odd ways, they get her to do their dirty work with just two words of flattery and then keep her in the dark and fail to protect her from things they brought to her doorstep.

I pulled on my scrubs and all the silver that I currently owned. Between my belt, bracelet, and badge – which might warn me a second or two before any attack –I’d give myself even odds on surviving for five seconds once I was outside my door. Five whole seconds, although not necessarily painless ones.

In Nightshifted, Edie took it upon herself to save a vampire child, and now that vampire child, Anna, asks her to be some kind of Ambassador, involves her in things Edie doesn’t even begin to understand, and then just disappears without protecting her in any way. There were times when I wanted to yell at Edie to grow a spine, but there would be no point. She is who she is.

"You can't just leave anyone. It's one of your biggest virtues, and one of your worst flaws."

Edie is constantly surrounded by grotesque creatures she relentlessly takes care of, even when it’s not her job to do so. As I said in my opening paragraph, I love it when urban fantasy flirts with horror, and Cassie Alexander balances the fine line between the two wonderfully. Sure, some of the descriptions might turn your stomach (they did mine, and I’m not exactly a delicate flower), but this is what sets the series apart and I really like it.

At this point, I’d hate for Edie to find a steady relationship and then get her act together and become less pathetic (harsh words, Maja, harsh!). I don’t want a man to fix her life, that would be even more pathetic. I want her to find her own footing, start taking care of herself and then maybe get into a serious relationship, preferably with Asher. I like Asher for her, and I have a feeling he wouldn’t just abandon her like Ty (although he did give me reason to think otherwise). He’s charming and attractive and, you know, definitely NOT a zombie. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

What I really wanted, but didn’t get from Moonshifted was a stronger story. The first half was essentially plotless, or at the very least directionless. So many things were happening at once, and at the same time, nothing was happening at all. I still couldn’t clearly outline the plot for you, nor do I wish to try. For the first 80%, Moonshifted suffered from the worst case of Second Book Syndrome I’ve ever seen, but at least it ended with a bang. Hopefully, the next book, Shapeshifted, will be a bit more exciting in that regard.

Author: Alden Bell
Series: Reapers, #2
Published: November 8th 2012
Publisher: Tor
Hardback, 320 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository



Almost two years ago, when I picked up a book called The Reapers Are the Angels (mostly because I liked the title), I never dreamed reading it would be such a life-changing, earth-shattering experience. Not only did Alden Bell (pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, author of Hummingbirds) take everything I thought I knew about genre fiction and turn it upside down, but his main characters, Temple and Moses (and what an odd pair they are) became permanent residents in my thoughts and in my heart.

Exit Kingdom is not a sequel, but a companion novel – a prequel in some ways – loosely connected through two characters: Moses and his paternal half-brother Abraham. The story begins after the events of The Reapers: Moses and Maury are sitting around a bonfire with some survivors and Moses is answering questions about their travels. When asked whether he believes in God, Moses offers to tell a story about his early adventures with his brother – one that explains why he knows with absolute certainty that God truly exists.

Like The Reapers, Exit Kingdom is very much a road novel, still influenced by Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner among others, but the philosophy hidden within is somewhat different. Temple was a ray of hope in an otherwise hopeless world, and Moses’ perspective seems rather bleak in comparison. Many factors caused this huge difference between them, but the most important one, the one that Bell himself keeps pointing out in the few interviews that can be found, is that Temple was born in a world infested with slugs, while Moses still remembers what life was like before.

Bell’s writing is unusual and breathtaking: he skillfully uses language to create the right atmosphere and to bring his readers closer to a world where education had to take the back seat to survival. It’s interesting that a language can deteriorate so badly and still be so beautiful. Add to that Moses’ unusual way of speaking – for even the most mundane sentences become noteworthy coming from his mouth – and you’ll get a prose piece that is distinctive and impossible to forget.

My brother and I, Moses says, we’re hard to offend, friar. You likely couldn’t stumble by accident upon the offence to us – you’d have to give it your full effort and strategy. So don’t fret yourself on that account. We’re happy to get whatever you feel like offerin. And we’re happy to offer services in exchange.

Exit Kingdom is a story about God, or the absence of God, but it is not a religious story. God, like beauty, is very much in the eye of the beholder. Where one sees chaos, another sees harmony. Where one sees apocalypse, another sees rebirth. I think the last sentence (it’s not a spoiler, not at all relevant to our story), will tell you more about this book than I have in my entire review:

Half the travelers are killed, but half survive.

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Author: Gena Showalter
Series: White Rabbit Chronicles
Publication: October 5th 2012
Publisher:Mira Ink
Paperback, 368 pages
Buy: The Book Depository



I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but Alice in Zombieland has very little to do with Lewis Carroll’s classic. In fact, aside from the title itself and the white rabbit-shaped cloud that warns our Ali of danger, there’s nothing connecting the two. As someone who stays as far away from retellings as possible, I was overjoyed when I discovered this, but if you go into this expecting a new version of that story, you might find yourself disappointed.

Alice in Zombieland is, above all, a fun little book suitable for younger audience. While there are plenty of hot scenes and sexual references in there to contradict what I just wrote, the overall story lacks enough substance and depth to satisfy a more mature reader. This is mostly due to formulaic narrative and stock characters. That’s not to say, however, that this book is not worth reading – it is, as it has several things going for it, but it’s not nearly as original or exciting as I’d hoped.

The story is all too familiar: Ali’s entire family dies in a car accident caused by her schizophrenic father who was trying to save them from invisible monsters. After the tragedy, Ali goes to live with her grandparents, where she soon discovers that her father wasn’t nearly as crazy as he sounded. Monsters start popping up everywhere, but with them comes a group of young people led by the scorching hot Cole Holland, all of them trained to kill the zombies and defend humanity.

Although I liked Cole well enough, he didn’t even come close to provoking the reaction Showalter was going for. All the ingredients were there: the initial rudeness, the mystery surrounding him, the incredibly attractive looks, overprotectiveness, strength and impressive fighting skills, but I just never felt truly enthralled by him, not for a split second. It’s probably because, as a love interest, he seemed just a bit too plastic. Take this quote for example:

I knew he was strong, determined, protective, and that he cared about his friends more than he cared about himself. He obeyed no rules but his own. In the Wild West days, he would have been an outlaw.

It’s true, Cole is all those things, which makes him exactly like hundreds of other characters that showed up recently. I’ve seen authors work with this mold and still manage to create something unique, be it through the sense of humor or something else entirely. But Showalter just didn’t succeed in making Cole memorable at all.

Where she failed with him, she succeeded with Alice… at least up to a point. Alice is also a stock character, but unlike with Cole, Gena Showalter managed to breathe some true spirit into her, which is why she’s the only thing I’m sure I’ll remember about this book.

Oddly enough, Showalter’s take on zombies was the most original thing about Alice in Zombieland, and my favorite part, to be honest. Existing only in the spirit realm, they cannot be seen or touched by just anyone, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do real harm. In order to fight them, Cole and the gang have to separate their spirits from their bodies, and it’s the first thing Ali had to learn as well. While I’m usually a blood-and-gore kinda gal, I found it all very interesting, although a bit confusing at times.

All in all, Alice in Zombieland is a fun, but rather unmemorable book that, I fear, was written merely to satisfy the market, and not in a creative outburst of any sort. A lot of adult authors are deciding to write YA these days because, let’s be honest, that’s where the money is, but some manage better than others, and Gena Showalter falls somewhere around the middle.

Do I think this book is worth reading? Definitely, if you’re looking for a compelling, fun read you’re likely to forget in a short while. There are times when a reader needs exactly that.

Author: Lia Habel
Series: Gone With the Respiration
Release date: September 25th 2012
Publisher: Del Rey
Buy: The Book Depository


This summer has been full sequels that outshined their predecessors. Dearly, Beloved is one of them. Not only is it funnier, better thought-out and better written than Dearly, Departed, it also affected me more strongly. The plot is well-planned and well-executed and it finally gave this series a much needed direction it lacked in the first book.

Strangely enough, I originally gave Dearly, Beloved three starts, but, upon further consideration, I decided it deserved more. Lia Habel has enormous talent for worldbuilding, and she is quite good at creating vivid imagery and leaving a strong impression on her readers. The secondary and even tertiary characters she introduced aren’t lacking in detail or in color – from the zombie girl who grows flowers in her rotting body to our dear, headless doctor Samedi, they are all both interesting and entirely unforgettable. As for the main characters, they all changed significantly, some for the better, and some (like Pamma) not. Once again, Habel doesn’t shy away from gory details. Some of the descriptions in Dearly, Beloved are utterly disgusting (and infinitely thrilling, of course). It is through blood and rotten body parts that she breathed life into her world and made it stand apart.

The only thing I can’t seem to get used to is the number of perspectives. There are even more this time: Nora and Bram of course, Pamela, but also Michael, Vespertine, Coalhouse and a newly introduced character, Laura (the zombie flower girl). All of them undoubtedly contributed something significant and as hard as I try, I honestly can’t come up with another way to tell the same story, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t feel disjointed at times.

Romance, however, is what really brought me to my knees. I expected it to be lovely after Dearly, Departed, but I didn’t expect such sweetness and maturity. Nora and Bram face everything together, they understand each other perfectly. Nothing can keep these two apart, they love each other as openly and honestly as they can, aware that time is quickly running out for Bram. And yet, even with time in mind, they (mostly) uphold the rules of propriety, they are both bold and respectful at the same time and this balance they constantly maintain is quite beautiful.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Dearly, Departed, but everything changed with this book. I can’t wait to read more.

Author: Susan Dennard
Release date: July 24th 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Hardcover, 388 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository



Ever since her father passed away, Eleanor Fitt’s life hasn’t been the same. Her brother Elijah is away in college, the money is seriously lacking, and her mother is obsessed with regaining their place in society. When her brother fails to arrive home for the second time and a walking corpse brings his vague note instead, Eleanor becomes convinced that Elijah is a victim of some necromancer and starts moving heaven and earth to find him. With no one else to turn to, she goes to the Shadow Hunters, a pretty odd group of people who travel from town to town, fighting the spirits and the undead.

Something Strange and Deadly is a lovely, well-written and fast-paced adventure, but the worldbuidling leaves a lot to be desired. There is no background, there is no context, you get thrown into a sink-or-swim situation and you must either take it in stride or give up entirely. Two different types of dead are walking: the slow ones and the fast, hungry ones; there are evil and powerful spirits about; the Shadow Hunters, employed by the city, have a way of fighting the undead; Eleanor is in the middle of it all right from the start, and yet, we are given no explanation whatsoever. Why is it normal, almost accepted, for the slow corpses to walk, but not the fast ones? Why are séances the most popular entertainment of high society? Who raises both types of the dead?

The pacing was so fast, it reminded me of a rollercoaster ride at times. I never really got a chance to catch my breath. This worked doubly to Dennard’s advantage: for one, the story was so easy to get into, and besides, even when I knew I should be irritated by one of Miss Fitt’s especially rash conclusions, I just didn’t have time to think about it too hard.
To give credit where credit is due, though, Dennard did surprise me a couple of times and that doesn’t happen often these days. Her story had quite a few unexpected twists and turns and was rather original in some ways.

Oddly enough, romance was my favorite part, and I’m usually not a romance-is-my-favorite-part kind of girl. It was entertaining and subtle, not relevant to the story and certainly not in the spotlight. I liked Daniel a lot, he brought so much humor into every scene and his constant teasing of Eleanor, even in most dire of situations, made me laugh out loud several times. Her bristling and reluctant respect were also quite amusing.

He was grinning wide. The rascal was teasing me! And before I could summon a worthy retort, he whistled brightly and sauntered ahead of me. Blazes, he was cocky. And entirely too dashing for his own good – or for my own good, rather.

(I think the word rascal describes Daniel pretty well.)

Do I think this book has something new to offer, despite the faulty worldbuilding? Yes! Will I be reading the sequel? Yes, yes, yes. Susan Dennard knows how to keep her readers interested without resorting to a vicious cliffhanger that would make them feel cheated. I just wish she would write a bit faster.

Hello, honorary librarians!
A few months ago, I was checking out something extremely important (read: wasting time) on The Book Depository, and I accidentally discovered Nightshifted. I've been thinking about it ever since and I even chose it for my first Waiting on Wednesday post. When I got a chance to review it, I was truly giddy with excitement. I liked it a lot, so imagine my joy when Cassie agreed to do an interview here at The Library! We had a lot to talk about, I hope you'll enjoy reading our chat. 
Don't forget to enter the giveaway!





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Blackout by Mira Grant

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Worry not, my dears, this review is spoiler-free.

There are three things in this world I truly believe in. That the truth will set us free; that lies are the prisons we build for ourselves; and that Shaun loves me. Everything else is just details.
- Georgia Mason

There's not much I can say about the Newsflesh trilogy that I haven't said a million times before, nothing spoiler-free at least, and I refuse to spoil even the smallest detail for any of you. As a result, this will be more of an emotional outburst than an actual review, so feel free to abandon ship if you’re not a fan of my all-too-frequent displays of sentimentality. I apologize in advance.

How do you bring down a massive government conspiracy? You don’t. You do what the crew of After the End Times did: you run for your life, save a few people, bury more than a few, tell the truth, and make sure to get it all on camera. Oh, and you pay attention when the villain starts explaining his actions because there might be more to it than he’s ready to admit. And when you stop to think about it and realize that it’s not worth it at all, you keep doing it because there’s nothing else you can do, and you hope for the best.


” I didn’t dream of funerals this time. Instead, I dreamed of me and Shaun, walking hand in hand through the empty hall where the Republican National Convention was held, and nothing was trying to kill us. Nothing was trying to kill us at all.”


As the story progressed and the science in it became more and more wild, I kept expecting to reach the point where I’d stop believing it, where it would be too much, but I never did. Therein lies the talent of Seanan McGuire – she is able to make the craziest things sound entirely convincing. It helps that her sense of pacing is nothing short of extraordinary, not to mention her ability to emotionally manipulate her readers. It’s not easy to keep people engaged and utterly fascinated through more than 500 pages, and yet Seanan McGuire accomplished it no less than three times.

I could (and should) say that the Newsflesh trilogy ends with Blackout, but it doesn’t for me, not really. After 1800 pages, so much laughter, countless tears and a few frustrated screams, I know I’ll be back to reread it often. In fact, I’d already reread both Feed and Deadline more than once. Why would Blackout deserve any less? In any case, I’ve gained more from this experience than just a book I can label as my all-time favorite. I’ve bonded with people over it, and today I have the privilege of calling some of them my friends. We are a diverse group, but we started with this one thing we had in common, and in time, we developed some more. Therefore, it seems vastly unfair to call this just another trilogy. For me, it was much more than that. It was a chapter of my life and a truly life-changing experience.

Aside from the already released Countdown, Mira Grant will write two more novellas in the Newslesh universe, San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats, and How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea. Seanan McGuire will also launch another duology with Orbit: Parasitology and Symbiogenesis, as Mira Grant. The story will have nothing to do with the Masons, but I’m sure it will be amazing. I guess we still have something to look forward to after all.

We know that we were in the right
(The coming dawn, the ending night).
So here is when we stop the lies.
The time is come. We have to Rise.
-From Dandelion Mine, the blog of Magdalene Grace Garcia, August 7, 2041.

Feed by Mira Grant

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A quick note: This review was first posted on GoodReads more than a year ago. I'm reposting it now in anticipation of Blackout, the final book in the Newsflesh Trilogy. I'd probably write it differently today, and it would probably be better, but I think my first, very emotional reaction carries at least some weight. This is still my favorite book in the entire world, and I've read some pretty amazing books. I hope those of you who haven't already will consider reading it soon. 

This book broke my heart. Twice. Today I have a headache and puffy bags under my eyes. But it was worth it.

Kellis-Amberlee is a fact of existence. You live, you die, and then you come back to life, get up, and shamble around trying to eat your former friends and loved ones. That's the way it is for everyone.

Two of my favorite books this year both have zombies in them. One is The Reapers Are the Angels. The other is Feed. But they are really very different books, because The Reapers Are the Angels is completely character based. Temple is the only constant – you live and you die with her. Reading the first half of Feed felt very much like watching a documentary. This is a book about politics, about the clash of generations, about a world that is terrified. It’s about standing up for your beliefs, choosing your priorities and knowing who to trust. It’s about friendship, convictions and brotherly love.

It is the year 2039. and the world after the Rising is a very different place. Adopted siblings Georgia and Shaun Mason and their friend Georgette "Buffy" Meissonier are journalists. The three of them run their own news blog. They are the first bloggers ever to be allowed full access to a presidential candidate and they intend to make the most of it. They have George to lead and be as objective as possible, they have Shaun using his people skills to open the doors for them, and, thanks to Buffy and her technology, they have eyes and ears everywhere – which can be both good and very dangerous. Their ratings are suddenly going up and their credibility is as strong as ever (which is all George really cares about). But politics is a dirty business and before they know it, they find themselves in a world of trouble.
If I would have to choose a single word to describe each of them, Georgia would be truth, Shaun would be adventure, and Buffy would be emotion. All three of them are weird in their own way, but they are also amazing persons.

It is with great joy that I report that the youth of America aren’t actually riddled with ennui and apathy; that the truth hasn’t been fully forsaken for the merely entertaining; that there’s a place in this world for reporting the facts as accurately and concisely as possible and allowing people to draw their own conclusions. I’ve never been more proud of finding a place where I can belong.

There is no romance in Feed. Georgia and Shaun don’t date. In fact, George doesn’t even touch people other than her brother. But there’s heart in every sentence and there are emotions too big for words. Seanan McGuire did extensive research for this book - it involved doctors, epidemiologists, technicians and people who were willing to try some of the stunts she described. That’s just one of the things that make this book amazing.

Feed is a Hugo Award nominee and the winner of 2010 Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction. 


The second book, Deadline, was released on May 31st 2011. The third book, Blackout is expected on May 22nd 2012.

Echoes of the Past by Tim Marquitz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Every time I get my hands on a new Demon Squad book, it feels a lot like Christmas. Admittedly, it’s a dirty Christmas, full of drunken groping and inappropriate comments, but it’s Christmas nevertheless. It is not often that urban fantasy is written and delivered with such boldness and abandon – Tim Marquitz does not only overstep the lines of good taste, he completely ignores them and then he laughs in your shocked face. And I love it.

Where is God now? I guess we’ve all asked ourselves that question at some point in our lives, some of us every day even, but when Frank asks, he actually hopes to get an answer. God has been missing, or rather, he left us to fend for ourselves, and to make matters more interesting, Lucifer has done the same. Two armies with no one strong enough to lead them are a sure recipe for disaster, but with a few more hostile universes in the mix, the Earth has very little hope of survival.

Enter Frank Trigg, Lucifer’s reckless nephew. After a long period of silence, his uncle sent him a message warning him about God’s old creations, all bigger and more powerful than us. Trigg is supposed to gather his allies and come up with strategies to defend Earth. But what makes him so special? Why should he carry this weight on his shoulders? To answer that, he’ll have to take a long, hard look into his past and maybe even kill an angel or two in the process.

This time around, Frank gave a whole new meaning to the word underdog. Nobody wanted him around for too long and there were far too many people (I use the term loosely here) trying to kill him. When you add to that a few shocking revelations about his family’s history, it’s no wonder I had the urge to hug him and comfort him just a teeny tiny bit (although he’d probably grab my butt or something, dirty bastard that he is, and then I’d have to shoot him with his own gun… not that he ever gets to keep it for long anyway).

The beginning of Echoes of the Past was a little bit rough for me. I was just getting comfortable in the Demon Squad universe, and suddenly there were more universes to consider, more powers, more creatures, more everything. It was all too much too fast and it took me a while to adjust, but the second half more than made up for it. In it, Marquitz showed that he’s not afraid to add layers to his main character. The emotional depth he showed, the seriousness with which he approached certain subjects while keeping Frank true to himself stunned me. It made me forget about the first half. It even made me less grumpy about the cliffhanger. I’ll always put character development first and that part was done perfectly.

It’s too early to start thinking about book 5, but I can’t help it, not after that cliffhanger, and I’m excited and terrified in equal amounts. I don’t know what’s coming next for poor Frank, but I’m sure it won’t be pretty.

Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Corine Solomon, #1
Published: April 7th 2009
Publisher: Roc
Mass market paperback, 336 pages
Buy: The Book Depository


After reading this for the second time, I had to resist the urge to write Ann Aguirre a lengthy fan letter with a bunch of exclamation points and possibly even a heart or two. I never get tired of her worlds or her characters, nor can I stop admiring the ease with which she pulls me into one of her stories.

Corine Solomon is a handler. She has the gift (or rather the curse) of psychometry: she can see things by touching a charged object. Unfortunately, no matter how many people she helped by using her ability, handling brought her powerful enemies as well so she’s been forced to live in Mexico under a different name for the past eighteen months. To make matters more complicated, she’s also been hiding from her ex-boyfriend and manager Chance, whom she abandoned in the middle of the night after a job gone wrong. Corine is convinced that Chance never loved her the way she needed him to, so when he shows up in her small shop in Mexico and asks her to help him find his missing mother, her first instinct is to run and hide before she gets heartbroken once again. However, Chance’s mother was always kind to her and Corine simply doesn’t have it in her to turn her back on either one of them when they really need her. Instead she chooses to return to the US with Chance, where she is forced to face demons, powerful necromancers, zombies and the scariest thing of all, her ex’s vulnerability.

Corine is not an easy character to love, that’s for sure. She can be petty, vindictive and completely blind to what’s right in front of her. She often made choices that made me want to strangle her with my bare hands. But she’s also smart, unflinchingly loyal and brave, even when she’s at her most vulnerable.
Ann Aguirre never writes simple, easily likable characters. Those of you who are familiar with her Sirantha Jax series will remember some of Jax’s actions and know exactly what I’m talking about. But the best thing about that is that it leaves a lot of room for character growth and, even though it takes her a while, she always brings her characters to the point where I admire them completely, possibly even more because I know how they started out. Knowing what I know now, after reading four Corine Solomon books, I can see exactly what she was aiming for at the beginning and what risks she took to make her characters seem more human.

The first time I was reading this (exactly a year ago, thank you, GoodReads) I didn’t know what to make of Chance. He was saying and doing all the right things and I believed him, I did, but there was just something missing, there was an emotional distance present even when he was proclaiming his love for Corine. I guess I understood and liked him better this time around, and I was able to read his actions (or lack thereof) much better. Needless to say, there was a lot of sighing and swooning involved.
And then there’s Kel Ferguson (yep, Ferguson, like my Kindle :D). I won’t even try to explain that complicated story, but suffice it to say that he’s one of the most intriguing characters ever and that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him this past year.

I can’t emphasize enough how much I love this series and everything else Aguirre writes.
Oh, and did I mention the zombies?