My Neurotic Book Affair: Sirens

Showing posts with label Sirens. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Neurotic Thoughts - Ripple

Ripple
Author: Mandy Hubbard
Release Date: July 21, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published by: Razorbill/Penguin
Source: My wonderful daughter Allison from Shorty Reads
Summary from Goodreads:
Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn't, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love-again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead.
Then Lexi finds herself torn. Against her better judgement, she's opening up agian, falling in love with someone new when she knows she shouldn't. But when she's offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free or her curse is giving him up.

At the constant insistence of my wonderful daughter I finally picked up Ripple. I had to thank her for shoving this book in my face because it really was quite good.

Poor Lexi has no idea how she killed her boyfriend on her sixteenth birthday but she is deteremined to never kill anyone again. Since that horrible night she has shut herself off from everyone. All of her old friends bully her now because they all believe that she had something to do with his death.

I love how a really well written character, paranormal or not can seem like a real person. Lexi's pain felt so real throughout this book. When Cole, her past boyfriend's best friend starts to show an interest in her she wants to stay away, she really does. He finally shows her that not everyone thinks she was the cause of her boyfriend's death.

Then along comes Erik. He knows what she is. He knows how to fix her, and he is pretty darn awesome. He is everything she needs, and even though Cole is everything she wants she knows that Erik is the right choice. Until being with Erik just starts to feel wrong, and she can't get Cole out of her head.

I loved the twist in this book. I was completely blown away and couldn't believe how wrong I had been. The characters are pretty great from damaged Lexi, to her grandma in the sweats sitting in her recliner. Cole is an amazing guy that will have you wondering why your boyfriend isn't quite that sweet. Erik, oh Erik, that's all I have to say about him. Ripple is a quick read and guess what? It's not a series or a trilogy it's a stand alone novel. Ripple isn't like the few other mermaid books I've read (not that I've read many). I really enjoyed the legend behind what she is, and wish that they story had delved just a little deeper into that. Overall a quick enjoyable read!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Neurotic Thoughts on Tangled Tides (Blog Tour)

Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs, #1)

Tangled Tides
Author: Karen Amanda Hooper
Released: November 25, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Published by: Rhemelda
Source: Publisher for blog tour
Pages: 328
Summary from Goodreads: Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

Young Adult fans of Mermaids, Selkies, Sirens and Gorgons will love this tale of the sacrifice one makes for genuine love. Love that could be lost at any moment to the ever-changing tides.

My Thoughts:

Confession time: I wasn't entirely sure it was my best idea to read and review Tangled Tides for a blog tour. I thought maybe it had a 50/50 shot at either being pretty good or pretty bad, but I was intrigued by that cover. I can't say I LOVE the cover but there is something about it that always makes me do a double take. I'm so, so, so glad that I gave Tangled Tides a chance because not only was it not bad, it was fantastic!

There were a few times where the romance feels a bit intense and a little over the top, but I have to admit I usually like that. I loved when the couple even made fun of their overly romantic dialogue at one point. There are quite a few twists and turns in the plot that I figured out ahead of time and quite a few that I didn't. The writing was very easy to read and flowed beautifully. The characters were as believable as paranormal characters can be, and I absolutely adored all of the side characters. I was so into Yara's life that I ended up dreaming about being a mermaid the night I finished the book. I loved the overall feel of hope and love can conquer all feelings that I had while reading this book.

I am definitely recommending this book to anyone that loves smiling, laughing and crying while they read, and to lovers of paranormal romance, mermaids, hot mermen, sweet mermen, and anyone who wanted to or still wants to be Ariel. Curl up, get cozy and prepare to have some fun!