Book Review - Desires of the Dead

Howdy chaps tis a fine time for another review methinks! Y'all might remember I reviewed The Body Finder back in February... well I'm finally getting around to reviewing the second book. Be advised that I have rambled a bit and it could be slightly spoilery and a tad whiney (I'm blaming PABD)

Title: Desires of the Dead
Author: Kimberly Derting
Date: 5/3/2011 PM
Source: Gifted by Jess who received it from Headline
Description: The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life. As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger. (Description taken from Goodreads)

My Review

After how seriously freaking awesome The Body Finder was I had rather high expectations going into this second book despite the fore-warning I'd gotten from the few reviews I read that it didn't quite live upto its hype. I think it was a case of "should have waited a while after book 1 before reading book 2" With my feelings about the Body Finder so fresh in my mind it made the differences in Desires of the Dead glaringly obvious.

I'm not saying that I didn't like it - heck no I think Violet's gift is hella cool, Jay is a fabulous hunk of lovely and the story was gripping enough that I did actually put it down at a very tense moment out of fear. My main problem was with the alternate POV chapters since they lacked the scary amounts of tension and creepiness that they had in TBF. When you actually know who the POV character is from half-way through it kinda spoils the mysterious quality of those chapters.

The interest of the FBI in Violet in this book wass kinda a strange twist and I'm actually really wanting to know how it'll progress in the third book as Rafe is vair mysterious fellow and his presence may shake things up a bit (although admittedly some kinda triangle ought to be avoided). What bugged me though was Violet's almost extreme avoidance of their approaches - it is not a good idea to sidestep a federal agency whether or not you've done something wrong or because you have some freaky-deaky powers cos they do have the power to find you and if necessary spirit you away to some bunker in the middle of nowhere (or so I presume). Dude just go speak to the nice, if somewhat stern-looking folk in suits and save yourself the hassle of a summons.

Compared to the Body Finder this was more focused on the normal life of Violet rather than the effect of the serial killer on the community so there was perhaps an imbalance of angst on Violet's part. I understand that the switch in her relationship with Jay from best friend to boyfriend does present a massive ruck of issues that you never consider before but I did think she was a tad nutty in her jealousy of Mike's friendship with Jay.

Also the whole secret-keeping issue seemed odd when Violet's family all know about her gift so that the FBI are interested in her should be something they should know about cos they would support her so Violet's determination to keep a lot of pertinent info to herself was kinda foolish I thought as it put loads of pressure on her which she could have avoided.

Overall I enjoyed the story although with my current bent towards the scary, murder mystery side of the tracks I didn't adore this quite as much as I did the Body Finder. I am still super excited for the third book whenever its coming out so I'm hoping for a move back towards the even keel of swoony romance co-existing with a shiver-inducing mystery plot.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

So does anyone know if and when the third book is coming out as I'd really like to know? kthxbai

LadyV

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Covers So Lovely We'd Lick them #13

I know some folk might be wondering where the hell #12 went but with my horrendous lack of posting last week I am skipping that one because Jess did actually post her side of Covers so if I make *this* one #12 it will just confuzzle our numbering system and we are so easily confused it's best not to risk it :P

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them!

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it!

Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!

This beaut of a cover has caught my eye recently with it's kinda eerie mix of gorgeous dress and creepy griminess if you catch my drift. The smoky mottled effect at the top and bottom of the cover plus the aptly shattered title font give quite a unsettled feeling about the book. I think the model's pose is really cool with it's languid draping over the title and the crumbling dress made of rose petals is just seven kinds of fabulous. The way the bloody red colour of the petals stands out is wonderful and overall it really piques my interest in the book.  And with this description I am further intrigued...

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Lenzi hears voices. She also sees visions--gravestones, floods, a gorgeous guy with steel gray eyes. She knows she must be going crazy, just like her dad did. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't do anything to help, and the voices just keep getting louder, the visions more intense. But when Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, everything makes sense.
Sort of.
He tells Lenzi that she's a reincarnated Speaker--someone who can talk to lost souls and help them move on--and that he has been her Protector for centuries. But instead of embracing her abilities, Lenzi struggles between her life as the girlfriend of a sexy musician and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. Yet time is running out; a malevolent spirit has been trying to destroy Lenzi for ages, and he will surely kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon. 

Her choices are clear: Destiny or normalcy. Alden or Zak. Life or death. (Description taken from Goodreads)

Shattered Souls isn't out until December of this year so we do have rather a long wait ahead of us but I'm sure we can find enough awesome books to keep us occupied in the mean time. :D

So that's what scrumptious cover I'm licking this week, go check out what Cover Jess is drooling over at Jess Hearts Books and if you missed last week's edition check that out here!

Laters my dears

LadyV

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Book Review - Rosebush

DUDE!! It's taken me all month but I may actually get round to reviewing something!! I've been in a bit of a weird place recently and it's basically killed all my motivation to blog but I'm hoping that getting at least one post up might reboot my mojo. *crosses fingers* Here we go!

Title: Rosebush
Author: Michele Jaffe
Date: 2/3/2011 AM
Source: Bought
Description: Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.

Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller. (Description taken from Goodreads)

My Review

From just the synopsis of this book I knew it was gonna be my kinda read. The recent influx of mystery/thriller style books in YA lit that are mind-bending and tense without gallons of gore or scary shit (cos I'm kinda wussy like that) is so great as I love being able to feel the fear almost that the main character is feeling.

When Jane wakes up from her coma she's so confused and lost it takes a little while to get yourself grounded and get a grip on what's going on so as things start to take shape basically everyone becomes a suspect and you doubt everyone's intentions. It's so fabulous to not know who might be the killer cos when it gets to the climax you're totally surprised and you have that "ah ha!" moment after when *Everything* suddenly makes sense!


What I loved about the characters in Rosebush is that everyone from Jane, to her family and friends etc. felt really realistic as they all had some hidden depth to them and a disturbing number of her friends had some secret that they were keeping. Jane had the most awesome snarky sense of humour especially for a girl who got hit by a car and left for dead. My one quibble with her was that I felt she was a tad harsh on Joe her's mum's fiance - *I* liked him so I thought her continued prejudice against him was a bit unreasonable.


Throughout this book new snapshots of memory helps Jane piece together what happened to her that night and there are a freaky amount of revelations about people but we are kept guessing right up until the end as to who the actual killer is and dang if it isn't one heck of a climax! The tension just racked up as Jane starts to doubt her sanity in the face of all the threats, and it's almost kinda Black Swan-ish cos the lines blur between what's real and what might-possibly-but-we're-not-quite-sure is happening.

I loved the feeling of being scared for Jane and just how cleverly put together the whole story is made it such a fantastic read and even at the end of the month it's *still* my fav book in March. I can't wait to read what Michele Jaffe writes next- if it's even half as awesome as Rosebush was it's gonna rock my proverbial socks off!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars


Holy cow I totes just finished a review! *passes out in shock*
Bring on the rest of my March reviews!
LadyV

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In My Mailbox #42

Good almost-afternoon! Apologies for the general naffness of the blog recently I know I am still massively behind on reviews, heck we're two thirds of the way through the month and I've not caught up on February reviews yet! :( This makes me sad. But I shall have to sort that out another day.

In My Mailbox is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie



Books Mentioned in Vlog
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Philips
Where She Went by Gayle Forman (THANKS JESS for lending it to me!)
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (Ditto!)


Muchos thanks to the Lovely Jess for being so awesome as to let me borrow her books *huggles*


Alrighty then, I'd best get moving since I did  this entire post whilst lying down and that is prodigiously lazy of me! So hope everyone has a fabulous day and What did you get in Your Mailboxes?
LadyV

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Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them #11

So after last week's little break from Covers Jess and I are happy to be back with two fabulously new and sparkly covers to drool over.

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them!

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it!

Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!

I know that there's nary a person who isn't in love with Etienne St Clair and with the reveal of the spangly new cover for Stephanie Perkins' sophomore novel - Lola and the Boy Next Door I would bet large amounts of money that all those folk are *vair* anxious to meet Cricket Bell, the titled "Boy Next Door".

This cover is just as fun as the cover of Anna but this time we actually get to see the boy which is very much appreciated :P I am also in love with Lola's hair - I WANT PURPLE HAIR!! Not only that but her outfit is totally squiffy and cool! This whole cover looks so darn cute I reckon it'd be like nibbling on cotton candy (or candy floss if you're Britishly inclined).

Looking past the cover I gotta say that this description from Goodreads has got me dancing with impatience to read the book already!

In this companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think.
For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous, the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins move back into the house next door.
When the family returns and Cricket—a gifted inventor and engineer—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Are we not in agreement? Is this the book that we will all be *dying* for all summer? Erm I do indeed believe so! Stephanie Perkins I doff my beret to you for being generally awesome and for creating the most frustratingly lovable Frenglican boy to ever grace the pages of YA. Etienne St Clair - you know where to find me :P

So that's What I'm licking this week, dash on over to Jess's Blog to see what lump of fabulosity she's getting all excited about this week.

LadyV

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It's Monday What are you Reading (33)

Afternoon my lovelies! I was gonna say how gloriously sunny it is today but alas the clouds have suddenly appeared and it makes me sad :( I had a fab walk yesterday in the sun with my iPod to jazz up the countryside and I would have gone again today but now... *huffs* Maybe I'll have another chance later this week.

It's Monday What are you Reading? Is a weekly bookish meme where we get together to share what books we've read in the past week, what books we're currently reading and what new books we're planning on reading in the coming week along with any reviews or interesting posts. It's hosted by Sheila @Book Journey

Books I read Last week

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (Really good High Fantasy chunkster)

Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce (Interesting collection of short stories)

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott (Cute, fun read- Review coming soon)

**Re-Read**Anna and the French by Stephanie Perkins (Freakily even more relatable)

Books I reviewed last week

Forest Born by Shannon Hale - Review

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce - Review

Books I'm Currently Reading

The Woman in White - I've not made any progress with this but I want to pick it up again this week.

Books I want to Read this week

Matched by Ally Condie - I can't believe I've not read this yet but with the cover for Crossed being revealed recently I wanna pick this up since it's been ages since I had a dose of dystopia.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik - I know I only bought this the other day but I have a craving to read some historical-esque fiction and it's really short so it shouldn't take me long to devour.

So that's What I'm Reading this Monday - What are you reading?

LadyV

 

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In My Mailbox #41

It's rather alarming how fast Sunday keeps coming around, does anyone else worry that it's gonna be June before we know it? This week has been a blur of ridiculously early mornings and copious amounts of caffeine but thankfully I got some time this weekend to chill out and go bookshop trawling :P

In My Mailbox is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Kristi @The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea @Pop Culture Junkie



Books Mentioned in Vlog
Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
The Leopard Unleashed by Elizabeth Chadwick


That's what I got in My Mailbox this week, What did you get in yours?
LadyV

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