Lemniscate by Jennifer Murgia

Title: Lemniscate
Author: Jennifer Murgia
Future Publish Date: March 21, 2011
Website: http://www.jennifermurgia.com
ISBN: 9780982500583
List Price: $9.48

Jacket Synopsis:
For Teagan, these last few months have been heaven on earth—especially now that Garreth, her boyfriend and guardian angel, is earthbound. But perhaps Garreth is becoming a little more “human” than either of them expected.

Now, Teagan must realize that her world is once again about to shift, as she questions the faith she held in others against those once considered enemies.

In this continuation of Angel Star, Lemniscate will draw you even deeper into the world of dark and light as Teagan realizes the angel who could possibly save them all is the one angel she feared the most.

My Comments: 
Jennifer Murgia's Lemniscate is the sequel to Angel Star. Angel Star asked us what if you met your guardian angel? What would happen if you fell in love with him? Then left us wondering what happens when we find out that we have two guardian angels, one light and one dark.

I am looking forward to a third installment (hopefully) to continue Teagan's journey.

I could not put this book down. It was fast paced, action packed, with a brilliantly woven love story… This book is one of my new favorite-must-keep books and I am eagerly looking forward to the sequel. I look forward to reading more of Jennifer's books in the future. She has a fantastic and imaginative writing style, which paints the most detailed scenic pictures. I could picture the stone chapel in the woods and every scene Teagan experienced.

A fantastic continuation of the series, Jennifer! Congratulations on realizing a dream. I truly look forward to many more books from you...

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Author: Alyson Noel
Publish Date: February 3, 2009
Website: http://www.alysonnoel.com
ISBN: 9780312532758
List Price: $9.95
My Rating: 4 out of 5

Jacket Synopsis: 
Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch.   Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition.  He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets.  Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head.  She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is.  Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

My Comments:
I had heard so much about this series. I read Radiance first which is an offshoot of this earlier story and after reading about Riley I could not wait to start Evermore. This first book in the Immortals series is an entertaining and thrilling adventure of Ever and her abilities. Ever can see auras, read minds, see the dead, and generally feel afflicted by these powers. She doesn't understand why she lost her entire family in a car accident that she alone survived. She is visited by her dead sister which in a way is the only comforting presence Ever has at the moment.

Ever struggles to push through daily life even though she hears everyone's thoughts and is overwhelmed by the spiritual world around her until... One day a new student appears and she finds that she is comforted and finds solace in the presence of Damen. Damen is mysterious and Ever cannot seem to figure out why she "knows" Damen. How does he make her painful abilities melt away and make her feel normal again?

The author, Alyson Noel, has a fantastic writing style. She has developed great characters that will cause each reader to seek the next book in this series without a doubt! The mystery that she builds around Damen and the constant page turning to find out what he is. Is he a vampire, a ghost, and immortal of some sort? Ever has to know why Damen comforts her so much and where this long entwining bond between them comes from.  This is a great YA read!!

I am off to read Blue Moon.

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Author: Alyson Noel
Publish Date: August 31, 2010
Website: http://www.alysonnoel.com
ISBN: 9780312629175
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
 Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley... 

My Comments:
This is my first Alyson Noel book. I have had Evermore on my shelf for a while, but other series books have gotten in the way. I thought I would pick up Radiance because it was a short novella by Alyson Noel. This was a fantastic read. Alyson's writing style is smooth, energetic, and constantly entertaining. I love the character Riley that she has created. She is a spunky, independent twelve year old who can certainly hold her own. When she is called up to take on the job of Soul Catcher she doesn't dissappoint.

Riley loves her heaven because she has learned she can manifest whatever she desires; however, Riley and her family have manifested portion of their earth life to make the transition easier. Soon enough Riley is told she has to return to school which she not all to thrilled about. On her first day, she feels out of place and then is shoved into a big empty room with The Council where she has to "explain her life." You will have to read the book to see how that panel discussion goes!! To say the least Riley pretty much says ... I have to explain ALL twelve years! Boy, was I gipped. (my own words)

After The Council session Riley is assigned a job as Soul Catcher. Riley and her best friend in the world Buttercup, her yellow lab, set off with her newly assigned teacher, Bohdi, to test Riley on her first soul catching mission. She is assigned the Radiant Boy who has haunted his castle for decades. Many have tried to convince the Radiant Boy to move on, but he is stubborn.

The second installment to Riley's adventure is due March 15, 2011 and titled Shimmer.

I am moving on to Alyson's Evermore series now, as I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and creative story telling. I look forward to more great stories and have high expectations for Evermore!

Torment by Lauren Kate

Title: Torment
Author: Lauren Kate
Publish Date: September 28, 2010
Website: http://laurenkatebooks.net/
ISBN: 9780385739146
List Price: $17.99
Rating: 5 out of 5

Jacket Synopsis:
How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? In the aftermath of what happened at Sword and Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean - and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future...and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened...what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?

Review:
The second installment in the Fallen Series did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat reading this book. Luce is an amazing character and the whole angelic plot around her is so intriguing. She knows very little about the war of the Fallen (Angels) and all the sides that were taken. She doesn't realize till now that she was a pivotal reason for the war and only she can end it. These depend on her choices in this life.

Luce has lived a thousand lives and only now has learned that she has been stuck in this love spiral. Fighting immortals was never what Luce anticipated in this life, but her love for Daniel, an Archangel, gives her the desire and strength to learn more about the past, her past lives, and what she can do to save their love, but some interesting events happen in this second installment that make Luce question was she really meant to be with Daniel. However, when she sees Daniel she believes that he is her world and that there is no one else, but when she is alone with another she can't help but feel that she needs to understand more about her past lives to know what decisions to make in this one. Luce does not want anymore of her friends or family to die in this life, like past lives, so she decides to find a way to understand her past.

Luce experiences past lives through her new found control of the Shadows, or Announcers, and she sees this as a way to end the Angel war. This is how Luce views her past lives and travels to find her answers...

Lauren Kate, the author, writes such vivid characters that you cannot help but be enveloped into the story. Passion, the third installment, will be out June 14, 2011. Do I hear "Pre-order"? Yes, I do!!!

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Author: Alexandra Adornetto

Publish Date: August 31, 2010

Website: http://www.facebook.com/AlexandraAdornetto

ISBN: 9780312656263

List Price: $16.99

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Jacket Synopsis:

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings. But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth.

My Comments:

I was very excited to read this angel themed YA novel. It did not disappoint. This is the US debut of Alexandra Adornetto and it is a jewel. I think her writing style is smooth and eloquent. I really enjoyed her unique story line to include a certain insight into Angels and Demons. An innocent, yet a reflection of life and how good & bad things happen in life, and an odd twist at how the dark powers and watchers partake in these events. Who knew how powerful love is until it is tested? This is going to be a series with the next novel coming out in 2011 titled Hades. 

The writer is only eighteen years old. I cannot wait to see what her writing career has in store for us. What an amazing debut for this young author. I truly look forward to reading more of her novels and stories to come. 

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Author: Alice Sebold
Publish Date: September 17, 2007
Website:  http://www.alicesebold.com
ISBN: 9780316001823
List Price: $14.99
My Rating: 3 out of 5

Jacket Synopsis: 
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her - her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling.

Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy

My Comments:
I thought that this was an interesting thriller, but the authors writing style was not smooth and I had to re-read many times to follow the story line and character thought processes. I was not too crazy about the rape and murder of children, but this was the base line of the story, so beyond that if you could focus on the family and heaven it was a mediocre read. My main interest of the story was what was heaven like and how different people interpreted their own heavens. It was a loving tale a ...more I thought that this was an interesting thriller, but the authors writing style was not smooth and I had to re-read many times to follow the story line and characters' thought processes. I was not too crazy about the rape and murder of children, but this was the base line of the story, so beyond that if you could focus on the family and heaven it was a mediocre read. My main interest of the story was what was heaven like and how different people interpreted their own heavens. It was a loving tale about the family's trials and how they learn to live with loss, and how the dead learn to live with their loss. I probably will not explore any more writings by this author because I just didn't like her complicated writing style.