Review: TEMEPST UNLEASHED by Tracy Deebs

TEMPEST UNLEASHED 
by Tracy Deebs

Hardcover, 352 pages

Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Walker Childrens

 

Placement in the Pile:  Reaching New Heights (Almost got Middle of the Stack...)

Summary:  
Tempest Maguire is happy with her decision to embrace her mermaid nature and live among her mother’s clan within the ocean’s depths. Even though training to one day ascend the throne for the aging mermaid queen is rigorous, she finds refuge in the arms of Kona, the selkie who first opened her up to her mermaid side. But when word comes that one of her brothers has been gravely injured on land, Tempest immediately rushes to his side—which also brings her back to her old flame, Mark. And in her absence, a deadly battle begins raging at the hands of Tempest’s old nemesis, the sea witch Tiamat. As the dangerous war erupts, Tempest’s two loves—Kona and Mark, sea and land—will collide for the first time, both to protect her and to force her to choose.

Review:

Okay, so there was so much that was done right about this book.  Seeing more of the underwater worlds and how Tempest struggled to fit in there, the action was always going on, there was tension among characters that really stepped them all up to the next level.  It was an entertaining read.

Why did I want to give it a "middle of the stack" rating?  Well simply because I think she chose the wrong guy.  And her reasons for choosing him were not shown through the book the way it should have been.  In fact when Tempest narrated her reason I went, "Huh.  Cause I thought you said the exact opposite about them earlier in the story." 

But, in light of not giving anything away I can't tell you who my fave guy is.  So you're going to have to figure that out.

So why did I give it a "Reaching New Heights" status?  Because despite the crappy love triangle, I think this next installment in Tempest's story was more compelling and action packed.  I loved the fights that Tempest had to go through and the raw emotions that came out of me reading her struggles -- real tears people!

I've admitted before that I've never read mermaid books before, so I can't say how it compares in uniqueness, but so far, I'm a fan of Tempest's stories.  And I hope there is going to be more -- and maybe a change of heart?  ;)

Review: ENDURE by Carrie Jones

ENDURE
by Carrie Jones

Hardcover, 262 pages

Published May 8th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA 

Placement in the Pile: Reaching New Heights

Summary:

Zara is at the center of an all-out war, and an impending apocalypse. True, she’s successfully rescued Nick from Valhalla, but it simply isn’t enough. Bedford is being ravaged by evil pixies and they need much more than one great warrior; they need an army. Zara isn’t sure what her role is anymore. She’s not just fighting for her friends, she’s also a pixie queen. And to align her team of pixies with the humans she loves will be one of her greatest battles yet. Especially since she can’t even reconcile her growing feelings for her pixie king…Unexpected turns, surprising revelations, and one utterly satisfying romantic finale make Endure a thrilling end to this series of bestsellers.

Review:
This is book 4 and the ending to the NEED series.  It is the culmination of Zara's struggles with evil pixies, and with being a pixie.

I don't want to say a lot about what made me love it because I don't want to give anything away.  But I think it was a great culmination to her story.  The characters in this book felt like they came full circle.  I even didn't hate Nick as much as I did in previous books.  There were moments I laughed, moments I cried.  This was a great end to the series.

If you're a fan of Zara's story you definitely need to remember to grab this last installment!  

Monday Musing...

I was thinking today. 

I've never read a Meg Cabbot novel.

Does that mean I can truly be a YA fan?  What are your thoughts?

Book Release Day!

I am sure there have been and will be many book releases that I miss.  Ex. I know recently BITTERBLUE by Kristin Cashore came out, and INSURGENT by Veronica Roth recently came out to name a few.  There are so many fabulous books out there, so I celebrate all books and all those that I've missed.

But today, there is a book release I am particularly excited about! 

ENDURE by Carrie Jones!

ENDURE is the end of a series that began with NEED, the story of Zara and her entanglements with not so kind pixies.  The story has evolved and I just can't wait to see what happens next!  (Plus isn't the cover just beautiful!)

Have you read them?  Are you excited?

Team Astley!

Thursday Three (7)

1) What are things that distract you from reading?  I've been very distracted lately, taking care of my girls, cleaning my house, dental work, but mostly it's been the computer.  The computer sucks up so much of my time, but I can't seem to get myself away from it for long.  Any tips?

2) This weekend starts a series of several amazing writer's workshops in Utah.  Tomorrow starts LDS Storymakers, then there's Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers in June, a Children's Book Symposium at BYU in July.  So many things that I wish I could go to this year, that I wish I had been dedicated enough to write enough to make it worth while.  I absolutely love conferences.  I almost want to write just so I can justify going!

3) It is true that the book publishing world is changing very quickly.  Traditional publishing is slowing down, independent is speeding up, and for the book blogger it's getting harder to get paper copies of ARCs to read.  I think I need an e-reader just so I can keep getting my Advance Copies!  So...nook vs. kindle?  What do you think?