Review: Sparks Rise

Sparks Rise by Alexandra Bracken

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Novellas serve as a small reminder, or a brief look into the world we are waiting to reappear. Sparks Rise was just that. A quick recap of the brutal treatment that the Psi kids receive at the hands of the PSFs. Samantha "Sam/Sammy" is a blue, living in one of the worst rehabilitation centers for the last seven years. Her routine is the same day in and day out, until a group of Reds are brought in to assist the PSFs. They have been completely stripped of anything that makes them themselves, and replaced with a shell of a person who is easily controlled. They are no more than the deadliest of weapons. Sam recognizes one of them, Lucas her best friend from childhood. When Sam is attacked by a nasty PSF, she fights back, willing to die before allowing him to touch her. Lucas wants to help her, but he's worked so hard at keeping his cover to risk it. It takes everything he has to pretend to be one of the mindless Reds that help with security. He knows that helping Sam will blow his cover, but he's also not sure if he can just leave her to their mercy.


***Spoilers***
He is able to stand back, even though it kills him to watch them beat her and lock her in a cage. He is able to talk to her for a moment, and she agrees that he made the right decision. Even if he'd tried to help, neither of them would have made it out alive. Overnight in the cages, Sam is bitten by a snake. While assisting in the medical ward, Lucas finds out the camp that his sister is located in. Shortly after that he sees that Sam is in the infirmary, not in the cages, and without the antivenom she may not make it. One of the nurses is able to help them escape, but they barely make it out of the gates before getting caught. Several weeks later Sam is still suffering the effects of the bite, and her leg will never be completely healed. She finally sees Lucas after all that time, but this time she realizes, that they have finally broken him. The boy she knew is no longer there.



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Review: Deacon

Deacon by Kristen Ashley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It's not a secret that I'm a huge Kristen Ashley fan. I'm pretty sure I have read everything she has ever written. With that said, Deacon just didn't do it for me in the end. I know exactly why, but that part will have to be in the spoilers section. This fourth installment of Unfinished Hero also seemed a bit generic. Almost like there was a deadline looming, and the words had to be put on paper. I can't even begin to understand how difficult it must be to write a book, much less writing several different series at one time, but I would be happy to wait a little longer if needed. Other than a few details about the main characters history, either one of them could have been replaced with another KA character without a problem. Even with all of that, Deacon was a solid four star book until the last 30-40 pages. Unfortunately that small portion of the book was enough to bring it down to three stars. This may be totally my issue, so read it for yourself before deciding.

Cassidy "Cassie" was fine as far as characters goes. A bit naive, and again a little generic, but ok. Deacon is the standard KA alpha male, with a slightly shady history. She is living her dream in the Colorado mountains, a bit differently than planned, but she's doing it. He shows up randomly over the years renting cabin number 11, and disappearing within a few days. Cassie knows that feeling anything for Deacon, who is almost certainly some kind of criminal is not smart. That doesn't stop her from renting cabins 1-10 first on the off chance he'll show up.



***Spoilers*** ***For mature readers only***
Deacon was a normal guy, in love and planning a life with his wife. None of her family, or friends bothered to tell him that she'd been in and out of rehab as a teenager, even when she disappeared. He knew that he loved her, and wanted her back, and despite protests from his family, he left everything behind to find her. After years of searching the dregs of society, he found his wife, and what he found was not pretty. She let the drugs take over, selling her body to pay for her addiction, and let her addiction take her life. For years Deacon lived in that world, making a name for himself as the bad guy bounty hunter who could find anyone. He knew he wasn't right after what happened, and knew he wasn't the man Cassie deserved, even though he couldn't stay away. After six years of renting cabin eleven, he stopped resisting her pull. They both fell for one another quickly, and they fell hard. Still Deacon held a part of himself back, some of it to protect Cassie, but another part because he wasn't ready to share. When Cassie found a picture of his wife, and thought he was still married, she demanded answers. She wanted to know everything, and he refused to give it to her. He walked away and broke her heart in the process. For six months she struggled to put herself and her life back together, and then he came back. Sure I know his side, and that he was finally ready. I just don't care. He strips naked, throws out a few lines, while heartfelt, still not enough to make up for what he did. She jumped right back in, which is the first issue I had. Secondly, their love life was a bit kinky before he left, but when he got back it was different. There is just something not right about a man like Deacon, as macho as they come, submitting to a woman. Not only that but he lets her put a plug in his ass??? No. I just can't. That just ruined it for me. Of course I'll still read the next book, but if by some crazy luck KA reads this review.. PLEASE don't do that again!



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Review: The Sinner's Bargain

The Sinner's Bargain by Claire Contreras

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Meh... I just didn't like it. The Sinner's Bargain was illogical, and a jumbled mess of ideas, none of which made much sense. I have read almost all of Contreras' books, and have given them all 4 or 5 stars, except this one. Books in the general sense do not have to be possible to be good. I read books about vampires, and werewolves, that somehow work. They do have to be logical though. For instance, if I am a criminal mastermind, making the daughter of a debtor work for my brothel to repay a debt, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't just let her walk away with my enemy. (Sometimes enemy?) That's another issue, do Sam & Philip work together, or are they competitors. Do they even like each other? I got the feeling the author wanted to keep the reader guessing about who could be trusted. She did a fantastic job there, because even after finishing the book I still have no idea.



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Review: The Cellar

The Cellar by Natasha Preston

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I picked up The Cellar because I needed an actual book to take with me on a trip. It does start a little slow, but once I got into The Cellar, I couldn't put it down until I finished it. The reason I didn't rate it four stars is because I have no desire to continue the series.

At sixteen years old, Summer goes missing. No one in her small town knows what to think, as things like that just don't happen there. They immediately start searching, but when they don't find her, or even a clue, they begin to lose hope. The Cellar is all kinds of twisted, both physically and mentally. At the end of the book I felt extremely anxious, almost as if I was personally witnessing this psycho and his house of horror. As someone who has never experienced such a terrifying situation, I can speculate as to what I think I might do. Being in the situation, as Summer quickly learned, tends to change things. When each decision could possibly have a life or death consequence, the lines are blurred. I can't imagine living through such a terrifying experience. The fact that this happens in real life is unimaginable. There is a reason we have gut feelings, or intuition. It is usually pretty spot on, and it might do us all well to remember that, or at least buy a gun!



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Review: Opposition

Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I stuck with the Lux series until the end, but I'm glad that it's over. I hate when I mentally move on from a series before it's completed, but it happens, and there really isn't much to do about it. Opposition was a struggle for me, not because it was a bad book, well a little bad, but I just didn't have the interest in the subject anymore. I go through phases, and apparently I am out of the hot alien phase. The fact that it took me nearly a week to finish it should have been a red flag, but I have this weird sense of loyalty to some authors. Armentrout finished up the Lux series nice and neat, no loose ends to keep you wandering. You have permission to move on.



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