Cover Reveal: City of the Fallen (Dark Tides#1) by Diana Bocco

Title: City of the Fallen (Dark Tides, #1)

Author: Diana Bocco

Genre: Paranormal, Dystopian, Romance

Book Blurb:

Five years ago, vampires came out of hiding and took over the world. It was meant to be a quick enslavement but it turned into a bloody battle that brought humanity to the brink of extinction.

Isabelle Bryant is one of the “lucky” survivors, now living in hiding, scavenging for food through deserted towns. 

And she’s tired of it. 

So she’s devised a plan: find the king of the vampires and drive a stake through his heart.

Except that wickedly sensual king Marcus is nothing like the monster she expected. And while landing on his bed was part of the plan all along, discovering that he might hold the key to humanity’s survival certainly wasn’t. The catch? Saving humanity also means ensuring vampire survival. It means giving up hope for a return to a human-ruled world. 

As sparks fly and hate becomes heat, Isabelle must pick a side -- before the darkness devours them all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diana Bocco

I've been a fan of all kinds of dark creatures since I was a kid (even before I discovered Stephen King at the age of 10). If it crawls in the night and tugs at your covers while you're sleeping, chances are I've written about it. It's probably no surprise that I'm a big fan of old buildings, urban exploring and things that go bump in the night. Oh, and Halloween, of course -- but that should go without saying.

Growing up, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I ended up not pursuing a degree in Archaeology (although I toyed with the idea for a while) but I did become a huge lover of travel and history. Aside from traveling to all corners of the world, I've also lived in five countries in three continents -- including three years in Siberia and two in Vietnam. I'm currently living in Thailand.

You can find her at:

Diana Bocco

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Book Review: EVERY DAY by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Published: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page count: 324 pages

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

MY REVIEW

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this book so I picked it up immediately from the bookshelf of the bookstore I always visit. I tried not to spoil myself by not reading comments and reviews about it. From the moment I flipped the first page, I realized I can't put this book down.

A's everyday life seemed very interesting and exciting, due to the fact that A can't control whose next body will it be. A wakes up every day on a different body, and certainly a different life. A cannot control it, and A can't stop it either. The good thing is, A can access the memory of the life and body. A got used to it, and accepted it as a normal everyday routine, until one day, A wakes up inside the body of Justin.

“I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.” 

While inside Justin's body, A met Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, A never wanted to shift body again, but he can't do anything about it. He fell in love with Rhiannon, and realized this is where everything started all over again. He wants to spend his every day with her, even in a different body. He is certain they can makes things work out, but of course, there are these circumstances they need to argue with.

I love the story, it's unique. I never read any story close to this kind of concept, that's why I was so excited about it. The pacing is not too slow, but not too fast. You'll get hooked to A's everyday life, trying to fins out what's in for the day. He got to encounter and become almost all kinds of individuals, and learns from experiences. I was taken back by the way A tried to get in touch with Rhiannon. How he did his best, and risked the lives of the bodies he's in, for the sake of seeing Rhiannon. Their love story is one of a kind and I think I'll never encounter any love story like this again.

“When first love ends, most people eventually know there will be more to come. They are not through with love. Love is not through with them. It will never be the same as the first, but it will be better in different ways.”

Each Day always left me thinking about tomorrow. Approaching the ending, I was saying to myself "It has to be the two of them! They need to be together! There has to be a way of being together!" They cannot stay this way... I was so moved by the story, expecting it'd end the way I thought. But then... I found myself crying, having an emotional breakdown over the ending. I don't know if I should feel happy, or sad for them. I never thought I'd be left crying by this book, so I imagined some alternate endings, and so on.

The fact that I was so moved by the story, the way it touched my deepest emotions within, the way it made me feel loved, the way it broke my heart... I can say that this is a very good book. Not all books can leave you crying in the end, and feel like you're really a part of the story. I just hoped for a better ending. But who knows? I wish there'll be a sequel to the story, and by then, it will leave us smiling, making our hearts beat very fast.

MY RATING

“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations - all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.” 

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Book review: EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

Title: Everneath (Everneath #1)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Series: Everneath

Page count: 370 pages

Book blurb:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

MY REVIEW

I do have a great interest in Greek mythology. I have to admit, I grabbed this book from the bookstore when I read it's a retelling of Persephone's myth. Persephone is one of my favorite mythological characters. Honestly, I swear that if ever I'd be blessed with daughters, I'd name my children Persephone and Penelope (just sharing hehe).

I felt great sympathy over Nikki. She turned to Cole made rash decisions that brought her to Cole's world, Everneath -- the world of the Everlivings. She became a Forfeit (humans where Everlivings Feed on their emotions to become immortals) and spent a century under, letting her forget about her family, her friends, her life. That is until she decided to go back to the Surface and try to fix and patch things up with the people from her past.

But she only has six months to fix things up. After that, she would be sucked down to the Tunnels, or go back to Everneath with Cole and be his queen. And on her Return, her emotions were completely gone (or is it?) but what made her survive unlike any other Forfeits who also decided to return is her endless love for Jack -- her boyfriend from the Surface.

“I dreamed of you every night. It felt so real. And when i'd wake up the next morning, it was like your disappearance was fresh. Like you'd left me all over again.”  - Jack

Jack is the kind of guy who would never give up until he finds all the answers to his questions, especially on why Nikki suddenly disappeared and returned again. In this book, he is the perfect symbol of hope.

On the other hand, Cole, who is an Everliving was quite possessive of Nikki. He, too, never wanted to give up on convincing her to go back to Everneath and be his queen. Well, I was really touched when he said:

“Sometimes... Sometimes our hearts...crack a little.” - Cole

I loved the pacing of the story. The flashbacks are perfect. Questions were immediately followed up by the answers, which made me want to dig deeper into the story. I also had a little doubt in my mind -- whether to hate Cole or not. I do love his bad boy image. I love him, and I hate him.

I also loved the twists in the story, especially how the author connected it with the myths we knew about. This is one of the best books I ever read. I truly enjoyed the characters and the story. I would definitely recommend this for book lovers out there! Next read: Neverfall (Digital Novella) all the way to the next book, Everbound! :)

My Rating:

(Rating System)

“If you're gonna leave, I wish you'd just leave. Why do you keep coming back if you're not going to stay? Because even when you're gone, you're never really gone... I won't get over it if you keep coming back. Losing you once was hard enough. And now you're here again and everything's coming back. I'm going to get screwed. And I can't do it again.”

Book review: GRISHMA by Kelly Anne Blount

Title: Grishma

Author: Kelly Anne Blount

Book blurb:

In the world of Necoh, everyone fears Grishma, a hideous murderous beast responsible for ruining or ending the lives of anyone who dare cross her.

As a young boy, Ryder lived with his family, deep in the caves underneath the Kadin Forest, unaware of the horrors of the world. His simple world was turned upside down one horrible night when Grishma attacked his family, killing his father and kidnapping his mother and younger sister.

From that night on, Ryder devoted his life to killing Grishma. He tracked the monster from Necoh, to our world, and back again. Unfortunately, during his quest, he accidentally transported Brooklyn, a high school junior into his tumultuous world, where she is mistakenly identified as Princess Sophie, the missing princess of Sumner.

Days after Princess Sophie’s return, Grishma plots and manipulates the King into drugging and marrying off his only daughter to Prince Algid of Dratun. Desperate to save Brooklyn, who now believes she is the long lost princess, his mother, and his little sister, Ryder embarks on the deadliest part of his quest.

Will he save Brooklyn? Will she ever regain her memory? What will become of his mother and sister?

Through epic adventure, loss, and love, GRISHMA depicts the strength of the human spirit and the tight bonds formed by the unique creatures of Necoh.

MY REVIEW

Before, I thought I'm already too old for fairytales. But Grishma proved me wrong. Fairytales can never be for young readers only. Grishma is an extraordinary tale of adventures in the extraordinary world of Necoh which is filled of extraordinary creatures. (Too much extraordinary, eh?)

Kelly Anne Blount did a great debut through this YA fantasy novel. I enjoyed the adventures of Ryder and Brooklyn, together with their Necohian friends. There were just some parts in the story that left me with questions like how and why Grishma came to Earth in the first place. I also admit that I quite had a heart time memorizing the names of the other Necohians. (I told you, they were extraordinarily different!)

I love how Ryder did everything to find his mother and sister, and never gave up also on finding Brooklyn. Although his main objective is to seek for revenge, this doesn't hinder him from being nice and friendly enough to gain new friends and companions in finding his loved ones. Brooklyn, on the other hand, I can say that she must be the bravest girl I ever met in a fairytale. Imagine how she was able to escape Grishma and that Nalun! I love her character, the way she dealt with all the creatures and everything that's happening to her, she indeed thinks very fast.

I also love Ryder's Necohian friends. I think some of them were funny and did a great part in balancing the mood of the story. I imagine them as cute weird animal looking creatures who can talk and act like humans. There are so many twists and turns in the story, making it a fun-filled action adventure taking the readers with every step of the characters.

I'm definitely waiting for the next book, hoping for more explanation on some parts especially on how Princess Sophie disappeared then suddenly showed up again.

My Rating:

 (Rating System)