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Elevated

ElevatedTitle: Elevated
Author: Elana Johnson
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Verse, Young Adult
Spice: 1 / 5
Format: Kindle
Pages: 292
Reason Read: Book Club, Utah Book Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

Even though ELEVATED is self-published, I honestly wasn’t worried about it because Johnson has traditionally published novels as well. I’m glad I read this because I really ended up enjoying it.

It’s the first novel in verse I’ve read. It was really weird at first and hard to follow. But, I got really into it and I couldn’t put it down. It was a fast read.

The story and characters were very compelling. I had wondered going into it if a novel in verse could give me the depth I want in a novel and it did. The characters were very fleshed out and story was very deep. It was a lot more emotional than I had imagined it would be.

I really enjoyed it a lot. Even though I loved the ending, I didn’t love it quite as much as I could have if it had ended just a tad bit differently. Still, I’ll definitely be reading more of Johnson’s books and I’m excited to read other novels in verse.

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Ink And Ashes

Ink And AshesTitle: Ink and Ashes
Author: Valynne E. Maetani
Genre: Thriller, Young Adult
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 368
Reason Read: Utah Book Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’ve been excited to read INK AND ASHES ever since I found out about it. I loved being immersed in the Japanese-American culture. There were some things I already knew from my Japanese classes in college, but I learned quite a few things too. I was especially excited to see Japanese written in hiragana, katakana, and kanji in the book. And, I loved seeing all the Japanese expressions throughout the story.

The story was fun and very suspenseful. I thought I knew what was going on and then when it all came together, I found out I was way off, even though I did guess one thing right. I really liked that the story wasn’t predictable.

I loved the characters. Claire and her friends made the story really enjoyable. I loved all their personalities. And, I liked that Claire’s parents weren’t absent like parents usually are in so many YA novels.

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Mania

ManiaTitle: Mania
Author: J.R. Johansson
Series: Night Walkers #3
Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult
Format: ARC
Pages: 408
Reason Read: Received for Review
Rating:

Also in this series: Insomnia, Paranoia
My Thoughts

I’ve been really excited to read MANIA because I’ve wanted to know how th trilogy ends. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. It was a wild ride.

Even though we learned about the different types of Night Walkers in PARANOIA, we learned more about their society and what life is like for them. The politics involved were very intriguing. In MANIA, not only are we in Parker’s head, but we get the addition of being in Jack’s head too. I really loved getting to know him better and learn what his motivations were. It was easy to tell the two apart because they both think so differently. And, they both added a lot to the story. It gave it a new dimension that I wished was there during previous two as well, but I understand why that couldn’t be the case.

I expected a lot of the things that happened in the story. But there were a few things that I didn’t expect and I was quite surprised about. I thought MANIA was a fantastic ending to a great series.

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The Eternity Key

The Eternity KeyTitle: The Eternity Key
Author: Bree Despain
Series: Into the Dark #2
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: ARC
Pages: 368
Reason Read: Received for Review
Rating:

Also in this series: The Shadow Prince, The Immortal Throne
My Thoughts

Holy crap! Bree kicked it up a notch with THE ETERNITY KEY. Not only are the stakes higher, but I was more invested in the characters because of THE SHADOW PRINCE. I was on an emotional roller coaster while reading. The tension is strong with this one. Anyway, I don’t know how I’m going to wait until book 3 is published.

The mythology in this series is still awesome. It’s even more awesome in the second book than what it was in the first because of all the things we learn and the new people we meet. I still love the characters. Haden and Daphne are great protagonists. I love the addition of Tobin’s POV so we get some insight from outside of Haden and Daphne. I enjoyed getting to know Tobin a little bit better this time around. I still think of Joe Vince as Spike from Buffy, even though he was partially based on David Tennant in the 2011 Fright Night movie.

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The Shadow Prince

The Shadow PrinceTitle: The Shadow Prince
Author: Bree Despain
Series: Into the Dark #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 481
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: The Eternity Key, The Immortal Throne
My Thoughts

I’ve wanted to read THE SHADOW PRINCE ever since I knew it was coming out. It was amazing. I absolutely loved it!

I loved all the mythology that came into play. I thought it was just going to be a retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth, which would’ve been awesome in and of itself, but it was so much more than that. I loved that Bree meshed the stories of Eurydice and Orpheus, Zeus and Hades, and Zeus and Kronos with Persephone and Hades to create her own world surrounding all of these myths.

I loved the characters. Haden and Daphne were perfect protagonists. The switch between their POVs was a great way to tell the story. I loved learning about each character and their motives. I loved thinking of Joe Vince as a non-vampire Spike from Buffy. I also loved imaging my kitty Dax as Brim. It helped bring the story to life.

I loved that music is such an important part of this story. It’s fun to imagine the music and how it’s affecting the world and the characters. The foreshadowing was awesome. I guessed some things before they happened and I think I already know some of the things that are going to happen. I can’t wait to see if I’m right. And, I can’t wait to see where this story goes.