My Love Lies Bleeding (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey

My Love Lies Bleeding is the first in The Drake Chronicle series. It tells the story of Solange, who is the only female vampire ever born, and her best friend Lucy – a human. Solange is approaching her sixteen birthday, and with that her transformation into a vampire. As the only female vampire born, not initiated, Solange is in great danger from all the other vampires, despite the efforts of her family, the Drakes. Her family includes seven sexy brothers, her strong parents and several other relatives. One brother in particular, Nicholas, is the romantic focus of this story for Lucy.

This novel changes perspective between Solange and Lucy, as the danger creeps ever closer and lives are hung in the balance. It is the characters in this novel that make it such a good read. Lucy is just… well, normal. She is funny, slightly weird, with a refreshing personality, and her relationship with Nicholas, Solange and the whole Drake family is brilliant. Solange’s mum is another favourite character of mine, because she is so fierce and dedicated to her family. 

The novel is short and straight to the point; with only 256 pages, the action never stops, and you are thrown into the middle of it from the start. I laughed, nearly cried, wanted to join in with the Drake’s training – it is a quick read that will make you want more.

This novel is a must read for all the fantasy lovers out there. I say fantasy, instead of vampires, because it is such a unique take that it doesn’t compare to the others. The book and series is refreshing. The rest of the series (four books so far, but more on the way) follow different Drake brothers through their adventures, with each one getting more exciting. I personally prefer this first book to the rest, purely because you hear from Lucy’s perspective.

The Lucky One

You have probably heard of the new film release called The Lucky One. Yes, the one with Zac Efron. This is based on the book by Nicholas Sparks (same title). If you haven’t watched the film yet, start reading the book version now! If you have watched the film already, read the book! Even if you didn’t like the film, give the book a go as it is definitely worth the read.

I haven’t seen the film yet, but I am desperate to watch it as I loved the book. The film versions of Nicholas Sparks’ other novels have been successful and stuck to the books, so hopefully this will be like reading the book in two hours. I recommend reading the book first though! No film can include all the details of a book, so you will be missing out!

If you have watched the film version, please leave a comment saying what you thought of it!

I have previously posted a recommendation of Nicholas Sparks’ novels, which included The Lucky One. Here is what I said about it:

The Lucky One

This novel is about a man who, during the war, finds a photo of a beautiful girl. After the owner of the photo is not found he decides to hold on to it, and luckily too because it saves his life. The girl is his lucky charm, and he wants to say thank you. He goes on a search for this girl in the photo, and when he sees a “help wanted” sign where she works, he thinks this is the perfect way to repay her. As you can see through me recounting the story after so long, it does stick with you (as with all his novels), and is heart warming to read.

See the full post: http://refreshingreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/i-recommend-nicholas-sparks.html

The Dark Lake (The Oshkosh Trilogy) by Carson Anthea

I have mixed views about this novel, so I will start from the beginning.

This novel follows Jane, a troubled adult stuck in the past. She is in recovery, goes to therapy, anger management, AA meetings and tries to find a job. Pretty depressing stuff. The author is brilliant at describing the scenes and portraying the emotions of the character. So, unfortunately, this makes the novel very depressing. It was well written, but a very heavy read and I couldn’t handle more than an hour at a time.

I didn’t like Jane. I understand that she is mentally unstable, however without knowing what happened to her I can’t sympathise with her. There is a mystery accident that happened in her past that explains her behaviour and the author hints at it throughout the novel, which does keep you intrigued, however I think it needs to be revealed sooner.

I kept waiting for this information to be revealed and got a bit bored when it never did. Jane continued being immature and stuck in a depressing state. There are flashbacks scattered throughout the book, which I liked better than the actual storyline as they are more positive.

Towards the end of the novel I began to enjoy it more, because I felt like a climax was being reached. From my reading experience, I would have recommended that the middle of this story is shortened or removed, with the current ending being in the middle and the story continued. I was left confused and disappointed from the current ending, as nothing was resolved. Knowing that this is the first of the trilogy, I think the author tried to space it out so a sequel is needed. However, this resulted in it being too long and boring.

I did enjoy parts of the novel; however I personally felt that it was stretched out too much. It is realistic, although the ending is puzzling. I have heard positive reviews of this novel, so this is completely my opinion and for just over one pound, you can make up your own mind. I do want to know what happened to Jane in the past; however I feel that this information should have been revealed in this novel, not left for the sequel.

I really want to know what happened on the lake!

I recommend… J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter)

I know the majority of you have made a decision about Harry Potter; you may have read it and loved it, or hated it, or not even read it and decided to hate it anyway. Or you just watched the films and forgot about the books. Either way, you must have heard of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.

Now, I’m going to tell you my experience with the Harry Potter books. This isn’t to make you read them, although you are missing out if you haven’t. And this isn’t to make you like them, because that’s your opinion. So, here is mine…

I used to hate reading. Well, ‘hate’ is too strong a word, more like I was never interested in it. This was mostly due to school experiences, having to read out loud to the class some boring book. I also had to do extra reading classes, which would make any kid despise the thing more. So basically, I didn’t want to touch a book that I wasn’t required to. As you can tell, this changed…

I must have been about nine when everything changed. Before then, I had read books but wasn’t crazy about reading. I would have preferred to play football or something; I don’t really remember how I spent all my time before reading. I went to the supermarket with my family, I can even remember that it was a Tesco’s, and there was a display of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. The phoenix is what grabbed my attention; I loved that type of thing. So I decided to read the blurb… and thought it sounded quite good. I had already watched the Harry Potter films that had been released and, although I wasn’t too fussed about reading, I was interested. I started the novel on the way home. I couldn’t put it down!

Harry Potter was the first book I enjoyed and J. K. Rowling became my idol. I fell in love with reading, with falling into another world, where anything can happen. I already loved films, yet books are so much deeper. I could go on forever about my love of books, but back to Harry Potter!

Harry Potter opened the reading world to me, because it made me interested in books! I loved the way J. K. Rowling could create a world that I could see so clearly in my mind. I read the books, with the words forming pictures in my imagination. J. K. Rowling is the reason I want to be a writer, to be able to write in a way that makes people feel the way I did when I read her books. Her writing is so powerful and inspiring; she will always be my idol.

Quick Post: The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike is a must read for any serious vampire lover! I am planning on rereading these novels soon, so that I can give you a lengthy and detailed review. But you should know that they are amazing! The first novel was published in 1994, my birth year, however they are so modern. I found myself wondering how Alisa, The Last Vampire, was going to escape certain situations. And laughing hysterically! She is such a powerful character; you will admire and love her throughout the novels.
If you love vampires, strong heroines, romance, action - anything really - then you will love these!

Someone Else’s Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts

This book costs 77p on Amazon – that in itself is enough to give it a go. The cheap price and fairytale title was all it took for me, and I was surprised at what I gained.

Someone Else’s Fairytale is an easy read; something you could read in the sun, during a break, or for an hour before bed. I couldn’t put it down though. It kept me coming back, yet not in the obsessive way The Hunger Games or similar books do, so I could still do other things during the day.

 
The story: Chloe Winters is a young girl, with a messed up family, who is trying to do well so she can forget about her past. You will love this character. Her sarcastic replies and actions in certain situations is the best part of the novel. The novel wouldn’t have worked if the character was anyone else, which you can probably say about any book, but oh well. When she becomes friends with a famous actor, Jason Vanderholt, her life changes dramatically as speculations are drawn. Chloe is a strong character, and this strength is great to read. She stands by her morals and doesn’t let Jason’s fame determine the relationship. You wish you could help her, although she handles everything fine on her own.

During this romantic story, there is a darker plot as her past is made present. You know that something is not right, with the author dropping little hints here and there, making you keep reading to find out the mystery.

Aside from this horrifying part, the story is very realistic. You will love the characters, especially Lori. You will feel connected to Chloe, wanting to help her and force things to turn out ok. You will be angry at the characters she is angry at. We have all been in at least one of her situations: heartbreak, loss of friendship, awkward moments when you just want to run away yet stay at the same time, jealousy… If you know love, you have been there.

Like I said before, this is an easy read and realistic. It paces itself out. Sometimes you have to wait for the situation to unfold. But this isn’t a bad thing, if anything it is a refreshing break from all-action romances. I’m not saying this is the best storyline you will read, but the romance is more like real life in a way (aside from the whole fame bit). You will want this to happen to you (aside from the heartbreak and horrible past). As you can probably tell there are two sides to this story – romance mixed with dread – but the romance is the majority, so if you want a light book to read this is the one for you.

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars, because it kept me entertained and I enjoyed the characters. It is nothing compared to Nicholas Sparks, or similar authors, yet I think that this author is worth keeping an eye on for future releases. The book is refreshing to read as it is light, even during heavy scenes. There is a part near the end that shocked me, although I probably should have guessed it.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

A friend recommended this novel to me, and if this wasn’t the case, I doubt I would have brought it. Luckily, I trusted my friend’s opinion.

After reading the first page of the Kindle sample, I thought the unique writing style and language would be too distracting for me to last through the whole novel. The words are broken, being written more like how they sound than the true English spelling. This fits with the theme of the book – a world where books are antiques and written words are long forgotten.

Thinking of my friend’s love for the book, I continued reading and found that the different writing was refreshing instead of annoying. I wanted to know what happened next!

So what is this book about? It is set in a ruined future, where the majority of the world is desert and has severely deteriorated. The story is told from Saba’s point of view, a very stubborn 18 year old, who has lived isolated with her family her whole life. She is close to her twin brother, and blames her sister for her mother’s death. So when five men kidnap her twin, she promises to find him. The rest of the story is fast paced and full of adventure; this gives you no time to get bored, or put the book down during an uneventful part.

You see the main character, Saba, grow with independence and her willpower is inspiring. However, she isn’t the most likeable person during the majority of the book. You will find yourself willing her to react differently, listen to the people around her, or just stop and think a while. She doesn’t see what is right in front of her. I found this very frustrating at times, but I am a romantic. I put myself in her shoes though: growing up only knowing family members, no sexual or romantic contact, with no experience of life outside her area. You would behaviour similarly for some actions.

I was surprised to hear there was a sequel yet to be released. Although I loved this novel, I’m unsure whether I would like to read the second one. The novel ends in such a way that I found myself continuing it in my mind, playing what will happen. A sequel may be a mistake… I will have to read it and find out!

Saba’s strength and how she develops throughout the novel makes up for these flaws. This novel will send you on an adventure that you have never experienced. The imagery created is strong, and I could picture it like a film in my head. I am very pleased I brought this novel; it is unique and, after reading as many novels as I have, this is a brilliant quality to a story.

4 out of 5 stars!